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[mo_town]

I have no clue how Tsotsobe all ways gets picked...

With all the bowling talent we have, philander carrying drinks and the raw speed of de Lange, Tsotsobe shouldn't be in the team

Tsotsobe adds good variety as a left arm pacer imo..Parnell is the bigger surprise for me. He can be really wayward at times.

[mo_town]

Ashwin looking good. He definitely has it in him to be a good all rounder. That pull off Tostsobe was sweet!

[ProCricketer1982]

Quinton de Kock is moving closer to bagging a Test debut.

With Elgar, Duminy and Alviro not exactly piling the runs on in recent times, there are places up for grabs.

De Kock would obviously bat at 7 in the Test side, if he gets a debut.

This pitch, TBH, is perfect for the side we've selected. 6 seamers on a fast bouncy pitch.

India's team leaves a lot to be desired.

How they continually selected Yuvraj is a mystery. The lad got an illness. But that doesn't mean he should get picked for charity...

Pujara is their Test number 3, get him into the side. He's a good young player.

You mean SARA didn't prepare a slow wicket or Bunsen burner for the Indians??? I can't believe they chose to go for the pace and bounce wickets instead.. Especially as India have zero decent pace bowlers and love feather beds to smash runs on.

Glad SA smashed them, long may it continue

[sfa82]

Well played by South Africa. Bowling performance backed up a very good total put up by the batters. Philander in for Parnell in the next game I would think. De Kock man of the match for sure.

[wcc]

Well played by South Africa. Bowling performance backed up a very good total put up by the batters. Philander in for Parnell in the next game I would think. De Kock man of the match for sure.

Yeah good bowling performance first up from Steyn and Morkel, when India have seemed to always get off to a flyer in recent times.

[ProCricketer1982]

Yeah good bowling performance first up from Steyn and Morkel, when India have seemed to always get off to a flyer in recent times.

It'll be interesting to see how India get on in the next two ODI's. I think they've been shown up as feather bed bully's but only time will tell

[Gerry SA]

It'll be interesting to see how India get on in the next two ODI's. I think they've been shown up as feather bed bully's but only time will tell

Unless I'm mistaken, the so called 'featherbed bullied' won the ICC champions trophy in England.

A tournament which the Proteas and England where desperate to win.

The bounce in Jo'burg is similar to Perth. No other ground back home plays like that.

Might be needed to be pointed out, India didn't bother with any warm up games. Whilst we played 2 x T20s and 3 x ODIs vs Pakistan.

[mo_town]

I would solely blame the Indian bowlers..they gave away too many runs and the batsmen were always under pressure. They need to get it together if India wants to make this odi series interesting. Hopefully Umesh and Ishant will get to play on Sunday.

[cleanbowled]

I think more often than not on the flatter pitches back home in India, the batting is so strong as to mask the deficiencies in the bowling. Even then you saw that the Aussies ran them pretty close.

I think overseas where often the pitches will have a little more for the fast bowlers, the batting cannot always bridge that gap. The Indian bowling at the death was awful, and they didn't really do much with the new ball either.

The batting should of course improve as the tour goes on. They have a couple of problems though -in Yuvraj and Raina.

[sfa82]

Might be needed to be pointed out, India didn't bother with any warm up games. Whilst we played 2 x T20s and 3 x ODIs vs Pakistan.

This was of course their own choice as they opted to have the farewell tour for The Little Master. Their luck of preparation and this first result can only be attributed to their own decisions and choices.

[cesare_in]

I think more often than not on the flatter pitches back home in India, the batting is so strong as to mask the deficiencies in the bowling. Even then you saw that the Aussies ran them pretty close.

I think overseas where often the pitches will have a little more for the fast bowlers, the batting cannot always bridge that gap. The Indian bowling at the death was awful, and they didn't really do much with the new ball either.

The batting should of course improve as the tour goes on. They have a couple of problems though -in Yuvraj and Raina.

Bang on!! Pitches are so flat here in India, its not funny anymore.. All the guys who got tons of runs against the WI side are struggling to get even bat on ball. Steyn showed them what real-cricket and fast bowling is about.

Rohit Sharma, Raina cannot play short pitched stuff for nuts. Yuvraj is IMHO down the hill and its just too difficult to expect him to adjust and play in foreign circumstances anymore.

I think they should have picked players (slow batters, test cricketers maybe..) to handle these conditions. Are there any? Your guess is as good as mine..

Only guy who has a semblance of success outside India with the current setup is going to be Kohli. All others are going to be (or have already been) sorted out.

[cleanbowled]

Rohit really was made to look a bit amateur at the start, was like he was playing a whole new ball game when Steyn was bowling at him, got cheers just for getting bat to ball. He is very talented though and seems to be stronger mentally, so I think he will get through it.

Kohli looked decent, has the technique and skills to combat SA on these pitches, though very lucky with the drop catch from the keeper. I think in general these guys will have to work out pretty quickly that some of the shots they took for granted back in India are just not going to work in SA.

I think Yuvi is finished, it all looks a bit apathetic from him sometimes these days. Raina is another weak link, though maybe because he can bowl and is a great fielder he has some other ways to contribute. Plus he plays in the Super Kings, so I doubt Dhoni will let him go. Rahane might hopefully get a look in at some stage, I don't really see how he can be any worse than these two.

Bowling - I think Umesh should come back but maybe they are saving him for the tests (I don't really agree with this policy but hey). Hope they don't decide to bring back Ishant or Vinay kumar though, they are as dreadful if not more.

 

[Gerry SA]

This was of course their own choice as they opted to have the farewell tour for The Little Master. Their luck of preparation and this first result can only be attributed to their own decisions and choices.

I'm not sure this is true TBH.

India's board had a hissy fit over Haroon Largat's appointment. And bizarrely dropped a Test match, 4 ODIs and 2 T20s from the tour.

Talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face...

The players, from both sides, wanted the full tour.

[cesare_in]

I think India should be touring outside two-thirds of their calendar and playing away from home. This is the only way India is going to feel @ease playing away. Else we are going to be discussing merits or otherwise everytime

[mo_town]

That would definitely do a world of good for the Indian team..thats the only way they will get better at playing on fast and bouncy pitches.