South African Tour of India 2010

[Gazza]

India might have a weaker side, but should start favourites based on form and also the home ground advantage. Wouldn't be surprised to see 0-0, but since SA are quite a result oriented team I might be proven wrong.

The ODI I'm predicting to be 3-0 or 2-1 to South Africa, purely because we beat India this year with a weakened team.

[sohum]

Originally Posted by Hmarka

It will be the flattest pitch in the world (Sehwag 300 style) for the first match to ensure a draw. Then a rank turner so India can spin their way to victory to protect the number 1 spot.

Either way, no one will truly believe India is number one until they beat Aus and SA away.

Umm.... will you be complaining if we get a completely bouncy pitch in SA/Aus that has the Indian batsmen in trouble? I doubt it. Touring countries about facing adversity in different conditions. If the South Africans can't win in conditions alien to them they are no more deserving than India for not performing in alien conditions.

sohum added 1 Minutes and 37 Seconds later...

Originally Posted by Gazza_11

India might have a weaker side, but should start favourites based on form and also the home ground advantage. Wouldn't be surprised to see 0-0, but since SA are quite a result oriented team I might be proven wrong.

South Africa are result-oriented? You clearly haven't been following South African cricket for a very long time. South Africans have been guilty in the past of settling for a draw, especially on away tours, rather than taking a slight risk for a win. Australia is the only real result-oriented team in modern-day cricket. I'd say England is second with India and South Africa the least result-oriented of the top teams in Test cricket, when it comes to taking a risk to get a result.

[TumTum]

Originally Posted by sohum

Umm.... will you be complaining if we get a completely bouncy pitch in SA/Aus that has the Indian batsmen in trouble? I doubt it. Touring countries about facing adversity in different conditions. If the South Africans can't win in conditions alien to them they are no more deserving than India for not performing in alien conditions.

Well tbh there is no pitch in the world that is bouncy anymore.

Aus - Fast Pitches
SA/NZ/ENG - Average Pitches
Anywhere else - Flat Pitches/Slow Pitches

[Params7]

Looking forward to every ball of this tour.

Enjoy the tests, everybody...T20 is going to gobble up everything after these tests =\

[Gazza]

Originally Posted by sohum

South Africa are result-oriented? You clearly haven't been following South African cricket for a very long time. South Africans have been guilty in the past of settling for a draw, especially on away tours, rather than taking a slight risk for a win. Australia is the only real result-oriented team in modern-day cricket. I'd say England is second with India and South Africa the least result-oriented of the top teams in Test cricket, when it comes to taking a risk to get a result.

Really? I had always found Smith to be quite an attacking captain, and they bat very quickly....

Eh.

[SaiSrini]

I have confidence in the first test being a result oriented one. The Nagpur pitch has been one of the best pitches in recent times in India providing good bounce and carry. South African pacers should love it and so should the Indian bowlers (even Harbhajan who loves the bounce). Only doubt is about the Kolkata test. If India lose at Nagpur, Kolkata will be a rank turner which will be really good (want to bring back those rank turners, miss them man!).

Maybe we might see results in both games. Also we are going to play when the Indian summer sets in. The pitches might be more livelier than what we have been seeing recently. Indian wickets are more livelier in summer because the preparation is not affected much by weather.

[venom2011]

There's spin-friendly pitches and then there's unprepared pitches. In the previous tour the last pitch was woefully unprepared and whoever won the toss and batted first had a huge advantage and with the sides being pretty close, whoever batted first was going to win. India won the toss and the rest is history. I wouldn't like to see such a pitch again

[sohum]

Originally Posted by Gazza_11

Really? I had always found Smith to be quite an attacking captain, and they bat very quickly....

Eh.

I'll get some run rate stats up for you during my lunch. But of the top 4 sides, South Africa have traditionally been the slowest scoring team.

sohum added 2 Minutes and 55 Seconds later...

Originally Posted by TumTum

Well tbh there is no pitch in the world that is bouncy anymore.

Aus - Fast Pitches
SA/NZ/ENG - Average Pitches
Anywhere else - Flat Pitches/Slow Pitches

There's no OTT bounciness. But the bounce on South African and Australian pitches is more than that would be faced on subcontinent pitches. Similarly, the turn on subcontinent pitches is more than that would be faced on other pitches. It's part of the game and party of the beauty of international cricket. There is an actual physical home-field advantage rather than just a mental one.

sohum added 8 Minutes and 12 Seconds later...

Originally Posted by venom2011

There's spin-friendly pitches and then there's unprepared pitches. In the previous tour the last pitch was woefully unprepared and whoever won the toss and batted first had a huge advantage and with the sides being pretty close, whoever batted first was going to win. India won the toss and the rest is history. I wouldn't like to see such a pitch again

What previous tour are you talking about? The previous South African tour of India was in 2007/08 and ended 1-1 after 3 Tests:

1st Test: South Africa 540 and 331/5d; India 627
2nd Test: India 76 and 328; South Africa 494/7d
3rd Test: South Africa 265 and 121; India 325 and 64/2

Interestingly, the team that won the toss and chose to bat lost each of the games that had a result.

In the previous tour of South Africa by India, the series ended 2-1 in favour of South Africa after 3 Tests:

1st Test: India 249 and 236; South Africa 84 and 278
2nd Test: South Africa 328 and 265/8d; India 240 and 179
3rd Test: India 414 and 169; South Africa 373 and 211/5

The team winning the toss chose to bat in all occasions, and won 2 out of 3 times.

[aus_maestro]

Originally Posted by Gazza_11

Really? I had always found Smith to be quite an attacking captain, and they bat very quickly....

Eh.

You haven't watched a lot of his captaincy then, heh?

[hMarka]

Smith is probably more defensive than Strauss even. He always wants to set up massive 4th innings chases (well over 400) and thus the draws

[sohum]

Originally Posted by sohum

I'll get some run rate stats up for you during my lunch. But of the top 4 sides, South Africa have traditionally been the slowest scoring team.

All-time:
Australia: 2.89, 27.02% draws
India: 2.83, 45.03% draws
South Africa: 2.72, 30.26% draws
England: 2.68, 36.35% draws

In the 2000s:
Australia: 3.66, 15.65% draws
India: 3.26, 34.95% draws
England: 3.21, 28.68% draws
South Africa: 3.12, 21.30% draws

In drawn matches:
India: 2.82
Australia: 2.81
England: 2.67
South Africa: 2.62

In drawn matches, in 2000s
Australia: 3.57
India: 3.30
England: 3.20
South Africa: 2.91

These figures show that although Graeme Smith has done a lot to change the mentality of South African cricket, of the top 4 teams, they are still the most defensive-minded. That last statistic tells all, essentially. In drawn matches, the South Africans have, on average, settled for the draw rather than trying to push harder for a victory.

[Gazza]

Ok, Ok I accept defeat

Obviously I'm influenced by the game at the SCG, January 2006......

[Cricketman]

Originally Posted by Cricketman

I think people need to come to the fact that spinning tracks = seamy/bouncy/swinging pitches. The whole point of Test cricket is to overcome all types of conditions.

Don't see why India will get the blame if they produce a spinning pitch. The saffers should get a decent enough spinner to utilize the conditions (Paul Harris doesn't count )
.....

Adding to this post... No one will believe SA/Aus are number 1 if they can't beat India in India either.

[MaD]

If SAF win this, India are losers

[Amiya]

Originally Posted by MaD

If SAF win this, India are losers

If India win this, South Africa are losers.