Topic: Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread [self - mod] - page 1129. (Read 169714 times)

I think Rahul has a big problem with his consistency he performs for a day or two but in long term hasn't provided a permanent solution to India for the opener slot. I think mayank aggarwal and rohit sharma have had a similar sort of performance. Once again what we want from them is consistency. More importantly on foreign pitches India wants a solid starting duo which slot is pretty empty too. So it's a long way before we declare both these players as permanent openers of this team.

Rohit Sharma is an established opener in ODI and T20 and now he has performed well in Test too, if he is able to perform in green pitches as an opener then he will be a permanent fixture as a Test opener, Mayank Agarwal is a fixture in the opener slot as he has performed well in the past series too. If they are performing consistently then there will be no spot for Rahul or Dhawan in the team as the middle order is full of talents and then the tail which comprises of Ashwin and Jadeja has a really good average.

I disagree. Sharma did perform well, but 2 matches are not enough to judge whether he is fit for that position. Vijay might find it tough, but Rahul and Dhawan especially will still probably be given a lot more chances in my opinion.

Rohit needs to continue performing well in that spot for many matches in order to be given a higher preference. Mayank Agarwal still has a long way to go and they are still experimenting with him. I would prefer Rahul over Agarwal any day currently.

The quota is for "colored players" and it includes black players. Actually it is not a quota in favor of the black people. It is a quota against the inclusion of the white players (since everyone else is being considered as "colored").  My calculation is that they have lost more than 50 players, mostly to county cricket in England, but also to countries such as New Zealand, Australia, and even to smaller teams such as Netherlands (Roelof van der Merwe, Colin Ackermann.etc) and Scotland.

Also we have players such as AB de Villiers, who stopped playing international cricket after the 2015 world cup semi-final scandal (for the semi final match against NZ, de Villiers wanted to pick Kyle Abbott, who had performed well in the earlier match. But Abbott was replaced with Philander by the selectors to have 6 colored players in the side. Philander went wicketless in that match).   

It was OK, if the quota was limited at one or two players (as the case during the 1990s). Now all the domestic teams are required to field 6 colored players in their playing XI (a minority of only 5 can be on merit), and 3 of them needs to be black Africans. This is how players like Temba Bavuma and Andile Phehlukwayo have found a place in the playing XI, when white players such as Hardus Viljoen and Chris Morris miss out on selection.

Rohit Sharma was experimented as a Test opener for the first time and he scored centuries in both the innings and now he will be fixed in this position along side Mayank Agarwal and if Rohit Sharma is able to perform the same in away series in bouncing pitches then it would be a great opening combination, now KL Rahul, Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan will have a difficult time to get back into the team.

India is a dominating force even if they play in South Africa as they have the players to beat any team outside the sub continent, some of their bowlers are injured for the series and yet they could defeat South Africa with ease. India will white wash the series and they will be preparing spinner friendly wickets and from the next match they might add another extra spinner. Shami bowled really well in the second innings and Rohit Sharma performed well for the first time as an opener.

South Africa lost the match, by one run Senurian has missed the fifty on his very first international appearance. Though he is not out the other end made Rabada losing his wicket made the match come to an end. Today's win will give more confidence to India on the upcoming matches.

Well someone just saved his head from being shaved As expected when it came to chasing 395 in the fourth innings in just one day South Africa once again choked pretty Badly. As I said previously the 5th day pressure is damn too much for any team to take the match on their side. Not to mention that the Pitch also behave pretty unevenly until day 5 due to which Ball doesn't quite comes onto the bat. So it was a really wise decision by India to declare yesterday so that South Africa could fight for their win. Just one wicket to go and I hope Rain or bad light doesn't becomes any problem. Even though Umpires would stress at getting a result soon.

They have the local rules one of which is to include the quota of black players in their team to represent whole of the South Africa. If you see the recent world cup they took only 3 black player with them and none of them was a batsmen. They do not give priority to the black people and therefore we did not see world class bowlers like Makhaya Ntini and Kagiso Rabada to excel in the team.

Jadeja and Shami finished the team. I really thought SA would manage to get the runs but never expected such a poor result and batting from them, a team who managed 400+ in the first innings. My prediction went wrong this time but so glad India are going to win this first test.

9th wicket gone and just 1 left. They won't reach even 200 now.

Yes the South Africans are fighting for the 9th wicket and they are reaching a 100 run partnership and are fighting hard to extend the win for India, not sure how long they can wait their inevitable defeat .
Shami bowled well in this pitch and he was landing the ball in all the humps in the pitch and was taking wickets but now Kohli is not giving the ball to fast bowlers to take the wickets of the tail, not sure why Kohli wants to extend this match.

I knew my hair was always safe as i knew the South Africans will survive the Indian pitch  . Two more wickets to wrap the match.

No need to shave your head anymore. Your hair is safe. Betting on South Africa was always a losing bet and England turning it around against Australia was a rare occurrence. As expected, India is going in for the kill.

Just read an article related to this earlier and was happy to know that Ashwin achieved this feat. A true legend in the spin bowling department and I hope he continues taking more and more wickets in the long term just like Murali.

I think Virat Kohli needs to give Mohammed Shami another 4-5 overs. He is in top form right now and he should be able to clean up the remaining two wickets. The 9th wicket partnership is nearing 50 runs and the captain needs to act quickly. Jadeja needs a break (he has put in 12 consecutive overs) and Ashwin can be given a chance to get to 10 wicket haul (in the match), along with Shami.

Yes, there was bit of expectation over South Africa to give a fight back as both the team are almost equal based on the player statistics and were on the top of the table. Players on the last were trying to make the score reach 150. As Muthusamy is playing his debut match he is very slow with his performance.

TBH I expected a bit of a fight from the South Africans. I did expect a result not a draw but I didn't expect the match to be over by 2nd session 

They are constantly losing their best players to Kolpak. And the "transformation quota" requirement is not helping things as well. Here in India, we have 60% to 70% of the government jobs and seats in educational institutions reserved for people from lower castes. This has resulted in illiterate people becoming doctors and engineers. The system has been destroyed inside out. South Africa has gone a step further by enforcing quotas in sports teams (not just cricket, these quotas exist in rugby, basketball.etc as well). Two decades back, they were regarded as the strongest cricket side (especially during the 1999 world cup). Now they have lost their position and is no longer regarded as one of the top 3 sides.

Yes i am lucky to see that South Africa is able to score more than 100 runs now and just two wickets needed to wrap this match, wondering how long South Africa can improve the 9th wicket partnership as they are reaching a 50 runs partnership now which is the highest this innings for them   .

If there is a couple of top class spinners in the South African side then India will not score easily like that in the second innings. They are coming in the subcontinent wicket with a single spinner and expect to contain the Indian batsman is the dumbest decision they can make as India is known to play spinners really well.

Yup the part timer is good and keep on taking wickets for the team.

That's a pure disaster how South Africa played today.  Today's match was supposed to be a draw but these South African are unpredictable like the pakistanis. 

I know many of us will lose their bet as most of us were going for draw 

^^Well South African batsmen not trying enough today. strange to see they didn't pick Shami's reverse swing despite the fact that he only ball wicket to wicket same as Philander. Faf's dismassal was ugly.

Part time bowler took 4 wicket today but let's bash Ashwin he only took 1 wicket