End of day 2 Of 2nd test-ind vs sa

RSA - 184
IND - 201, 125/2 (40.0 Ovs)
CRR:  3.12
Batting R(B) 4s 6s SR
Pujara* 63(100) 6 1 63
Kohli 11(27) 1 0 40.74
Bowling O M R W
Rabada 8 5 9 0
Partnership: 30(41)
Last wkt: Murali Vijay c (sub)Bavuma b Tahir 47(105)
Recent balls: . 4 . . 4 . | 4 . . . . . | 1 . . 3 6 1
Summary Scorecard Refresh
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Commentary
How many times we see prelude not indicating how the song will turn out to be? This is a match of similar kind. India, after messing up for the first two sessions of the match, have now gained control over the proceedings. The Indian captain might be in for a belated birthday gift and he would be gleefully accepting it. For this gift did not look a possibility after he and his fellow batters had failed yesterday.
When South Africa came on to bowl, Dale Steyn did not turn up owing to a groin strain but Philander made up for it by once again getting rid of Dhawan cheaply. A pair on the venue where he started his Test career with a century on debut must have hurt the southpaw. Amla once again preferred Elgar over Tahir and the leggie could only come as a third spinner. Also, not giving Rabada the new ball was surprising. As far as the Indian batting in the second innings is concerned, it has looked solid so far. But we must not miss the fact that Vijay and Pujara were compact in the first innings as well. It is the batting to follow which will be a concern for Kohli. Vijay missed out on a well-deserved fifty, departing just before the end of day's play. So now the onus is on Kohli and Pujara to carry forward the innings with patience. For any score above 250 in the fourth innings will be too tough to chase for the visitors.
Stumps, Day 2: What a day it turned out to be for India. After Amla and Elgar saw off the first hour, a desperate Kohli got his best bowlers - Ashwin and Jadeja - from both the ends. The move paid off and South Africa lost three wickets before lunch. AB de Villiers' final score might not tell the story of his stay in the middle. He was fidgety in the beginning and Jadeja all but managed to send him back. Had Jadeja not overstepped when de Villiers was caught by Kohli, India would have been leading by at least 50 more runs. Nonetheless, the hosts are still in a commanding position, courtesy another outstanding showing from Ashwin who has now 150 Test wickets to his name.
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39.6 Tahir to Pujara, 1 run, fired down the leg-side, Pujara glances it to fine leg, looks for two but Kohli sends him back
39.5 Tahir to Pujara, SIX, in the air and that's the first six of the match. In fact, this is just his 4th six in his Test career. Captain Kohli loved it, he punches the gloves with his partner with a big smile on his face. The googly goes way too short, Pujara rocks back and pulls it high over the mid-wicket boundary
39.4 Tahir to Kohli, 3 runs, too short this time, Kohli goes on the back foot and flicks it through mid-wicket, they scamper back for three. Elgar gave chase and hunted it back just inside the rope
39.3 Tahir to Kohli, no run, very full, driven hard and back to the left of the bowler, who half-stops the ball in his followthrough
39.2 Tahir to Kohli, no run, flighted delivery on the stumps, Kohli defends off the front foot
39.1 Tahir to Pujara, 1 run, oh! Friendly full toss, Pujara mistimes the drive to mid-on, who is slightly deep
Imran Tahir [7.0-0-22-1] is back into the attack
Last over of the day coming up

see also

Spinners win India another three-day home Test

Day 1: Stumps - Ind vs Sa

Day 1: Stumps - South Africa trail by 173 runs
IND - 201
RSA - 28/2 (20.0 Ovs)
CRR:  1.40
Batting R(B) 4s 6s SR
Elgar* 13(59) 0 0 22.03
Amla 9(34) 1 0 26.47
Bowling O M R W
Mishra 2 0 7 0
Partnership: 19(70)
Last wkt: Faf du Plessis b Ravindra Jadeja 0(4)
Recent balls: . . . . . . | . . 1 . . . | . . . . 1 .
Summary Scorecard Refresh
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Commentary
Going into the 2nd day, it's an uphill task for Kohli's men. They have started well but South Africa bat deep. There is Amla at the crease and Superman AB de Villiers - is yet to come. The beauty of Test cricket is that two bad sessions do not decide the fate of the match. The match hangs in a position where both teams have enough reasons to take a cue out of the above statement. So that's it from us then on Day 1. Tomorrow promises to be an exciting day. Looking forward to your company then. Take care, goodbye!
Talking about the Proteas bowling, it was top notch. The sign of a top class team is that even when the leader of the attack does not provide breakthroughs, someone from the ranks steps up. The pitch was not of Steyn and Philander's liking but the visitors found an unlikely hero in Dean Elgar. Amla's move to introduce Elgar before Tahir proved to be a masterstroke. It was so un-South African to see a part-time spinner bowling in the first session of the match. Philander did get some reverse swing in the last session and optimized it by prising out Jadeja before he could inflict any pain. A special mention must go to debutant Kagiso Rabada who bowled with the same heart with which he had in the ODIs and T20Is. He looked like getting wickets more often than not. The only problem was the no balls which one is sure would get ironed out as he gets into the Test groove. Often a pacer, trying to generate something extra from a depleted track oversteps.
Maybe the hosts focussed more on Steyn and Philander and did not do enough homework on others. Of all the tactics deployed by captain Kohli, sending Amit Mishra ahead of R Ashwin was the most baffling one. When most of the top batsmen were struggling against Elgar, he decided to attack him and failed miserably. Things would have been graver for India had Rabada not overstepped when he trapped Ashwin in front. Jadeja is coming back into the side after playing some domestic cricket and he looked comfortable against the spinners. The saving grace for India was Murali Vijay, who once again showed how he has matured in the past one year as an opener. After Shikhar Dhawan awfully departed without troubling the scorers, the task was left to him. He, along with Pujara, weathered the storm for a while. But the monk lost his focus due to the flurry of wickets at the other end.
India might have ended the day with some respite, but earlier in the morning, the batting let them down. The hype created around the pitch blurred the fact that South Africa possess some quality bowlers in the attack who are capable of running through the opposition, irrespective of the track they operate on. However, India would rue the fact that they gave wickets to Dean Elgar, who was introduced as a part-timer. Both Pujara and Rahane got dismissed after getting their eyes in. Something which does not make the task easy for a team which had one batsman less against a quality attack. Captain Kohli failed on his birthday and the look on his face was indicative of how gutted he felt after Elgar took the catch off Rabada.
Stumps, Day 1: After they had been put in the driving seat by their bowlers, South Africa's hopes to tighten the noose further on India were foiled by some impeccable bowling from the hosts. Sensing that the pitch had enough for the spinners, Kohli gave the new ball to Ashwin who did not disappoint as he prised out Stiaan van Zyl. The icing on the cake was provided by Jadeja, who carried his form from the domestic circuit and sent back a clueless du Plessis, who perished after he left a delivery which came in with the arm to disturb the furniture. During the dying moments of the day even Amit Mishra bowled with greater guile and variations and on a couple of occasions was only a coat of paint away from clipping the off stump of Amla.

Ind vs sa test-day1

Day 1: Tea Break
IND - 168/7 (55.0 Ovs)
CRR:  3.05
Batting R(B) 4s 6s SR
Ashwin* 4(11) 0 0 36.36
Ravindra Jadeja 26(55) 3 0 47.27
Bowling O M R W
Rabada 10 0 30 1
Partnership: 14(26)
Last wkt: Amit Mishra c Steyn b Elgar 6(8)
Recent balls: 1 . . 1 1 . | . 1 . . . N 2 | 1 1 . . . .
Summary Scorecard Refresh
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Commentary
Leggie Tahir was held back till late into the session by Amla and justified the decision by posing little-or-no threat to the batsmen. Ravindra Jadeja, back in the Test team on the back of a stunning FC season, batted with intent in an attempt to push India's score to safe shores. Mishra was sent ahead of Ashwin but fell trying to force the pace. Rabada's wicket off a no-ball was the only moment of despair for South Africa and Ashwin is still very much there.
Tea, Day 1: Mohali hasn't taken kindly to the fact that the pitch was left uncharacteristically dry for the series-opener. The ball turned sharply in the second second session to bite back the hosts and the visiting spinners, Elgar in particular, made merry as they pushed India into a corner. Rahane and Saha fell prey to sharp offbreaks from Elgar whose two wickets in two balls propelled him to his best ever Test figures. Vijay, arguably India's man for all seasons, unfurled an array of shorts to snatch back the initiative but Harmer rapped his pads to put the brakes on that.
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54.6 Elgar to Ravindra Jadeja, no run, nice and full, driven back to the bowler
54.5 Elgar to Ravindra Jadeja, no run, slider just outside off stump, Jadeja defends off the front foot
54.4 Elgar to Ravindra Jadeja, no run, flighted delivery on the off stump, wristed to the right of short mid-wicket, where Faf makes a diving save
Round the wicket now
54.3 Elgar to Ravindra Jadeja, no run, very full and outside off stump, dug out, Faf runs to his right from short mid-wicket and half-stops the ball
54.2 Elgar to Ashwin, 1 run, flatter delivery outside off stump, keeps very low, Ashwin cuts it square of the wicket on the off-side
54.1 Elgar to Ravindra Jadeja, 1 run, short and outside off stump, Jadeja rocks back and cuts it through point
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53.6 Rabada to Ashwin, 2 runs, short of length delivery outside off stump, Ashwin guides it to deep backward point

Ind vs sa

IND - 164/7 (53.5 Ovs)
CRR:  3.05
Batting R(B) 4s 6s SR
Ashwin* 1(9) 0 0 11.11
Ravindra Jadeja 25(50) 3 0 50
Bowling O M R W
Rabada 9.5 0 28 1
Partnership: 10(19)
Last wkt: Amit Mishra c Steyn b Elgar 6(8)
Recent balls: . . 1 . W . | 4 . . . . 1 | 1 . . 1 1 . | . 1 . . . N

Virat Kohli's India face stiffest test against South Africa

NEW DELHI: Tigers at home and lambs abroad. This used to be the term that aptly described the performances of the Indian cricket team not too long ago. So pathetic used to be their display in overseas Test matches that even a draw used to be considered 'honourable'.



But then things started to change under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly, as Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid reached their prime and India had in their ranks bowlers like Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan who could win matches on their own. Not to forget the magician with the bat VVS Laxman and a force of nature by the name of Virender Sehwag.



But with the retirement of all these greats in recent times and Mahendra Singh Dhoni not playing Tests anymore, India under Virat Kohli now face a tough task against South Africa in a four-match Test series starting in Mohali on Thursday. Kohli led his team brilliantly for his first Test series victory in Sri Lanka in August coming back from one Test down, but in South Africa they have formidable opponents who have not lost a series away from home since 2006.



South Africa may be looking for their first Test series victory on Indian soil in 15 years, but that they drew both of the last two Test series 1-1 tells a lot about their prowess. Though the Mohali pitch has the reputation of being a bouncy one, the Indian management is expected to roll out a turner to gain home advantage specially after the Wankhade pitch fiasco in the last ODI.
South Africa have in their ranks the batsmen to counter the Indian spin threat. The captain Hashim Amla may be out of form but has enjoyed playing in India where in six previous Tests he has scored 823 runs at an average of 102.87 with four centuries. And then there is AB de Villiers, who smashed three centuries in the one-day series and rescued his team with a 112 in a practice match in Mumbai ahead of the first Test.



The lack of experience of Kohli's men can be gauged from the fact that de Villiers and Amla have 44 Test centuries between them - more than the entire Indian squad has managed. South African pace spearhead Dale Steyn needs just 10 scalps to become the first overseas pacer to take 100 Test wickets in Asia, highlighting that he doesn't need helpful tracks to run through batting line-ups.



India are playing Test cricket at home after two years and have lost just one of their last 17 series but at the moment look more vulnerable than ever.



In Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan and Lokesh Rahul, India have three contenders for the opening slot. Then there will be the dilemma of choosing between Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit Sharma, the former having the defence and temperament to counter the South African pacers but the latter being preferred by the captain.



And like always, India have more questions than answers in their pace bowling department. Ishant Sharma will miss the first Test due to the ban, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron have the pace but are constantly in hunt for the right line and length and Bhuvneshwar Kumar has lost his swing in search for pace.



Can Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra and Ravindra Jadeja flummox the Proteas in the spin web? Watch out from Thursday.

1st Test, India vs South Africa: What should be Virat Kohli's playing XI?

New http://viratkohliindia.blogspot.com/2015/11/when-virat-kohli-touched-curators-feet.html:

After leading India to a record Test series win in Sri Lanka earlier this year, Virat Kohli would be excited to make his debut as the captain in whites on Indian soil in the upcoming four-match series against South Africa.

It would also be an opportunity for Kohli to show his leadership skills after the Men in Blue suffered back-to-back losses in the T20 series as well as ODIs under MS Dhoni's captaincy.

However, the selectors and the skipper himself have a tough task at hand, which is to select the perfect XI against the Saffers.

While Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan are all set to open the innings, it remains to be see who will be their first choice between Lokesh Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara. While the latter has won the praise of experts time and again, he wasn't the think tank's first choice when India toured Lanka earlier this year. But even though Lokesh Rahul has scored two tons in his short career, selectors should opt for Pujara, who has been a run-machine in the longest format of the game.

The selectors have some headaches in the bowling department as well. While Jadeja was recalled into the Test squad after a terrific Ranji season, it is yet not sure whether he would appear in the playing XI and it depends on whether selectors will be willing to go with three or two spinners.


But considering Jadeja's prolific show on Indian pitches in the past, he should play the first Test against South Africa.

Here is a possible XI we suggest for the 1st Test:

Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav

Kohli, Vijay, Ashwin sweat it out in nets ahead of 1st Test against South Africa

Mohali: Looking to avenge their humiliating loss in limited over cricket against South Africa, Indian team today sweated it out in the nets at the PCA stadium ahead of the opening Test starting here on Thursday.
After losing the T20 and ODI series against South Africa, India will go into the four-Test series hoping to turn the table and salvage the lost pride.
The Indian team led by Test skipper Virat Kohli didn't waste any time as they had a two-hour practice session after reaching here in the afternoon.
As against clear weather in the morning when the Proteas practiced here, it was smog and hazy weather in the afternoon even as Kohli, Murali Vijay and R Ashwin hit the nets.
Kohli had a good session playing watchfully to the medium pacers here that included Harmeet Bansal. Vijay, too, got the taste of batting conditions here.