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[Mister Le Chiffre]

Good to see South Africa selecting players on merit rather than on skin colour. This boy Ngidi looks a real prospect. Whereas players like Bavuma and Phelukwayo are beyond mediocre

[Mister Le Chiffre]

Rabada getting dropped twice off consecutive deliveries was hilarious. Kohli looked like he was about to go into full on rage mode. The Pandya-Shami drop was ridiculous

[cricketbadger03]

My favourite bit about the coverage is that the stump mic's are turned up VERY loud! You can hear every single word that is being said!

Am I correct in assuming it's controlled by the host broadcaster (SuperSport?) and not by Sky who are providing it in the UK? Just wondering since they obviously don't want to get any bad language on mic but it's almost entirely in Hindi and Afrikaans and there's quite a few things being said that Sky wouldn't allow on air in the UK, haha!

[Manormanic]

Bavuma is rather better than mediocre.  He may not get in ahead of any of the five batsmen in the current side, but he is surely next in line, and has done pretty well in Test cricket, eve if he was perhaps blooded just a little early.

Biggest thing for me today was just how good Kohli looked. 

[six and out]

Really interesting this...

http://m.cricbuzz.com/amp/cricket-news/99655/virat-kohli-plays-spotter-for-hardik-pandya-bat-left-hand-right-hand-reverse-swing-india-south-africa-centurion-test-2018-day-2?__twitter_impression=true

[Kez]

My favourite bit about the coverage is that the stump mic's are turned up VERY loud! You can hear every single word that is being said!

Am I correct in assuming it's controlled by the host broadcaster (SuperSport?) and not by Sky who are providing it in the UK? Just wondering since they obviously don't want to get any bad language on mic but it's almost entirely in Hindi and Afrikaans and there's quite a few things being said that Sky wouldn't allow on air in the UK, haha!

Yes the host broadcaster controls the audio levels and the sound technician obviously is not aware of what's being said.

And the reason for no hotspot is a different DRS provider is being used to the one in Aus/ NZ that use.

[adb club cricketer]

Really surprised at the pitch SA prepared for Ind. Could there be a hidden attempt to maximize revenue by giving Ind a chance here so the third becomes the decider?

[cricketbadger03]

Really interesting this...

http://m.cricbuzz.com/amp/cricket-news/99655/virat-kohli-plays-spotter-for-hardik-pandya-bat-left-hand-right-hand-reverse-swing-india-south-africa-centurion-test-2018-day-2?__twitter_impression=true

Good read - cheers! I enjoyed hearing these conversations on the stump mic. Kohli and Vijay were chatting between every ball of Ngidi's first spell trying to work out what he was doing with the ball. I'm sure they had plenty of footage but it's nice to hear that even at that level they're constantly making mental notes ball by ball.

[Mister Le Chiffre]

Kohli with another masterclass registered his 21st hundred. Class of part thus far on this surface.

[Rob580]

Kohli is an excellent batsman, he really is. I just wish he wasn't such a cock.

All this screaming and running off when there's a wicket (even if he was in no way involved) people will say 'oh, he's just passionate' but it just smacks of being a bit of an ego trip. 'Look at me, I'm passionate, hey everyone, look at me!'

[Mister Le Chiffre]

How on earth has Ishant played 80 Test matches? He's only got 229 wickets in those 80 matches. So basically 2.86 wickets per match. He doesn't bat and isn't particularly flash in the field.

[Kulli]

Kohli is an excellent batsman, he really is. I just wish he wasn't such a cock.

All this screaming and running off when there's a wicket (even if he was in no way involved) people will say 'oh, he's just passionate' but it just smacks of being a bit of an ego trip. 'Look at me, I'm passionate, hey everyone, look at me!'

I'd agree, never been able to put my finger on it but he's very hard to like.

[Manormanic]

I'd agree, never been able to put my finger on it but he's very hard to like.

Thats kinda the character of Indian cricket at the moment - they're good...but there is something about the insistence on weighting their fixtures toward tailored home pitches and sulking when they can't have things their own way that makes them very hard to like.

[cricketbadger03]

How on earth has Ishant played 80 Test matches? He's only got 229 wickets in those 80 matches. So basically 2.86 wickets per match. He doesn't bat and isn't particularly flash in the field.

Hahaha, myself and the 1.3 billion in India have been moaning about this for years and years. Think he has the highest average out of anyone with >200 wickets (around 36?). He bowls a good spell every couple of years which keeps him going - v Aus 07/08, v WI 2011, v NZ 13/14, Lords 2014, v SL 2015. All I can say is he's due.  Shows what our pace bowling stocks have been in the last 10-12 years and how good Zaheer really was for us.

I was lucky enough to witness first hand his 7-74 at Lord's in 2014 to win us that match. Never seen anything like it and probably never will. Having been on the Lord's tour, all I'll say is that his name really sticks out on the Honour's board. In short, good guy, decent bowler, but wouldn't have had that career with any other country.

[cricketbadger03]

Thats kinda the character of Indian cricket at the moment - they're good...but there is something about the insistence on weighting their fixtures toward tailored home pitches and sulking when they can't have things their own way that makes them very hard to like.

Totally agree that many of them are not likeable, especially when you look back 10-15 years ago to see proper cricketers like Sachin, Rahul, Kumble etc.

India do play a lot of home cricket, but you have to factor in that they have the longest home cricket season out of all countries. They can play for 9 months of the year from the end of monsoons in Aug/Sept to the end of short-summer in May. Unless they are engaged with Aus / NZ / SA away (every 4 years on average) they will just get someone over to play them at home, especially with the financial pull, hence the long home seasons.

I have no issue with that, what really annoys me (aside from not being able to play v Pak) is that every time there is a gap we constantly invite SL and WI over for mind-numbingly, insert-appropriate-word-here cricket. I'm convinced the BCCI had that hastily organised SL series a few months back just so we could get the record for most series wins in a row (all at home/ vs SL / WI unsurprisingly). This needs to change.