South Africa away ODIs - Comprehensive win for the Indians

"Hisaab 25 saal ka" screamed the promos on television. Right on cue, the Indian team won their first ODi series in South Africa in a very convincing fashion. 5-1 was the final result, which left everyone stunned and numb to an extent, even an ardent Indian fan like yours truly was shocked at what happened.

Batting first or second, the Indians won convincingly (6 wickets, 9 wickets, 124 runs, 73 runs, 8 wickets). Just the one blip thanks to a wet pitch and DLS rule helping the Proteans once, the Indians were on a roll!

The captain played a BIG role in the series win, no doubt. Getting to 35 tons in his career is no easy feat - only Sachin stands in front of him now!

He was supported with the bat by Shikhar Dhawan in most matches!

With the ball, it was the wrist-spinners who provided the key breakthroughs to dismantle the Protean lineup ( already depleted by injuries to AB De Viliers, Faf du Plessis). Injuries, inability to face the spinners on seemingly slower ( and lower) pitches were a critical sin from the South Africans. The focus seemed more on a long-term vision, rather than the series ahead - this backfired badly. They learnt a HUGE lesson in the process and lost the series in a manner that their fans might have felt depressed.

All pictures from ESPN Cricinfo website

Kuldeep Yadav, helped by MS Dhoni's guidance from behind the stumps, was critical. Both the spinners were awesome with their performance, barring that lone defeat on a rain-truncated Pink Day!



Finally, a century to seal the series convincingly, for the captain! His first ODI series win after his wedding was very sweet!!

South Africa away tests - India strike back with a great win

If you wanted to know why they are called test matches, do save this one for quick reference. A test of patience, perseverance, technique, guts, temperament!! It was good to see the Indians not only come out on top but show the heart required to fight out on a pitch that the home team opener ( undefeated in the last innings) thought was dangerous to play! A great overseas win that is better than the one at Perth!

It was the match where India had nothing more to lose. The batting, bowling and fielding came to the party together. The selections were spot-on, with the errors ( Ajinkya  Rahane and Bhuvneshwar Kumar) rectified.  Bumrah and Shami stepped up with the ball (while Bhuvi was his usual consistent self) while Vijay & Rahane showed their class on such a nasty pitch ( Virat Kohli's runs were worth more than what the scorecard showed. It was a collective effort as everyone contributed in all the three areas. A great effort by the Indian team to go down valiantly in the test series - the next tour should see them reap greater rewards.

Image courtesy: ESPN Cricinfo website

Definitely a win that will shape this young team further! Watch out for the Indians!!

South Africa away tests - Indian batsmen lose way to bring their team down

In the first test match against South Africa, India played after NO practice games, only for their bowlers to lift the nation's hopes with a great display of seam bowling. Reduced to 12-3, the Proteans managed to post a respectable 286. Till then, the two surprise picks in the playing eleven had done well. Firstly, Jasprit Bumrah, had given a good performance with the ball (picking the wicket of the great AB De Viliers) while Hardik Pandya chipped with that of Faf du Plessis. Even Ashwin picked up two to finish off a great display by Indian bowlers.

Image Courtesy - espncricinfo.com website

The batsmen started in the evening of the first day and conditions looked they were easier, in comparison. The weather conditions was bright on Day 2 but the Indian dressing room was gloomy - the wickets were falling regularly to the quartet. Rahane was dropped to accommodate Rohit Sharma, based on current form - this pick didn't go as per form (as did Dhawan's inclusion over KL Rahul). The Indians gave a lead of 77 runs.  Thanks to a near-hundred by Hardik Pandya, the lead was manageable! Pandya rode his luck to take India to a respectable situation.If only, the others had shown similar guts and determination!!

The second innings saw the Indian team score five more runs than their rivals but the lead conceded was more than enough to lose the test match!

The bowlers showed they could do well overseas but the batsmen couldnt match them - Only if the two shine, India has a chance in this series!!

SAF 1st T20I - India lose depite putting up 200

The stats before the match started was surprising to me - India were leading the Proteans 6-2 in T20I matches. Wow! Really!! The long series started in Dharamsala and the pitch was more in favor of the South Africans rather than Indians - fair enough. The dew factor would have an effect but since the match started at 7PM local time, both teams would have an impact.

The Indian team batted first against a second-string South African bowling attack (Steyn and Morkel were rested due to the schedule mostly). While Rohit and Kohli smashed the bowling apart, the rest of the batting could not leverage further. The target was 200 which I thought was a tad lesser than what could have been, when Rohit was going great. India persisted with Rayudu (instead of Rahane) and though he didnt get many balls to face, I think he is not a T20I player. Time to look at options like Gurkeerat Singh Mann (who scored a double century in Ranji match) or Manish Pandey or even Sanju Samson. India needs a dasher if MSD is playing at No.4 - every team has one. Maxwell, Duminy, Morgan being examples of this genre.

India had a new left-arm new ball bowler after a long time - Sreenath Aravind. He, along with his new ball partner Bhuvneshwar Kumar, went for runs against the partnership of Amla and ABD. Ashwin, with his new-found confidence and ball-skills, pulled the team back with a run-out and dismissal of ABD. But JP Duminy bailed the team and brought them home.

The Indian team will come back on pitches that are more subcontinental than this one but it is important to learn the lessons from this match. The T20 bowling needs overhaul - Bhuvi is good with his yorkers while it was the first match for Aravind. Who is the other partner for Ashwin? Axar gave away the match with three consecutive sixes - is Harbhajan a better bowler in this format? If India wants to play Mishra in tests, better not to play him in the limited overs format. Who else then, after Ravindra Jadeja (who by the way is on his way to a ten-wicket haul in the first Ranji match)?

SAF Tour - performances by the team

India finished the South African tour with a depressing loss in the final test - though the series loss was expected, the manner in which the team went down was not. The two test matches were alive till the last day - something that was beyond any fan's delight!

How did the players perform in the test and ODI series? Who were the heroes and who did not perform? Firstly, the batsmen who lagged behind

1. Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan - both played six innings in both the series included and could not get going at all. Never did they look comfortable (though Dhawan could blame Faf Du Plessis catch for his dismissal in the second test)
2. Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli (ODIs) did not do justice to their talent and reputation during the travel. Yuvraj can claim that he played only one innings but the manner he was dismissed showed that he was not comfortable against pace
3. MS Dhoni (tests) did not do well in test matches, despite being the senior-most batsman in the team. Though his captaincy was at its best, the captain's performance with the bat could have been better in the last innings of the series at least.

Player	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s	Format
Ajinkya Rahane	2	4	1	209	96	69.66	442	47.28	0	2	0	29	2	Tests
Ajinkya Rahane	1	1	0	8	8	8.00	17	47.05	0	0	0	1	0	ODIs
Bhuvneshwar Kumar	1	1	0	0	0	0.00	4	0.00	0	0	1	0	0	ODIs
Cheteshwara Pujara	2	4	0	280	153	70.00	600	46.66	1	1	0	36	0	Tests
Ishant Sharma	2	4	0	9	4	2.25	31	29.03	0	0	1	1	0	Tests
Ishant Sharma	2	1	1	0	0*	-	2	0.00	0	0	0	0	0	ODIs
Murali Vijay	2	4	0	148	97	37.00	375	39.46	0	1	0	25	0	Tests
Mohit Sharma	1	1	1	0	0*	-	5	0.00	0	0	0	0	0	ODIs
Mohammed Shami	2	4	1	6	4	2.00	15	40.00	0	0	1	1	0	Tests
Mohammed Shami	3	2	0	8	8	4.00	18	44.44	0	0	1	0	0	ODIs
MS Dhoni	2	4	0	87	29	21.75	185	47.02	0	0	0	11	0	Tests
MS Dhoni	3	2	0	84	65	42.00	102	82.35	0	1	0	8	1	ODIs
R Ashwin	1	2	1	18	11*	18.00	25	72.00	0	0	0	2	0	Tests
R Ashwin	3	2	0	34	19	17.00	45	75.55	0	0	0	5	0	ODIs
Ravindra Jadeja	1	2	0	8	8	4.00	8	100.00	0	0	1	0	1	Tests
Ravindra Jadeja	3	2	0	55	29	27.50	64	85.93	0	0	0	7	1	ODIs
Rohit Sharma	2	4	0	45	25	11.25	102	44.11	0	0	1	4	1	Tests
Rohit Sharma	3	2	0	37	19	18.50	69	53.62	0	0	0	4	0	ODIs
Shikhar Dhawan	2	4	0	76	29	19.00	184	41.30	0	0	0	9	0	Tests
Shikhar Dhawan	3	2	0	12	12	6.00	15	80.00	0	0	1	3	0	ODIs
Suresh Raina	3	2	0	50	36	25.00	70	71.42	0	0	0	5	0	ODIs
Umesh Yadav	2	1	0	1	1	1.00	5	20.00	0	0	0	0	0	ODIs
Virat Kohli	2	4	0	272	119	68.00	488	55.73	1	1	0	33	0	Tests
Virat Kohli	3	2	0	31	31	15.50	40	77.50	0	0	1	5	0	ODIs
Yuvraj Singh	2	1	0	0	0	0.00	2	0.00	0	0	1	0	0	ODIs
Zaheer Khan	2	4	1	32	29*	10.66	75	42.66	0	0	2	3	2	Tests

The batsmen who did well were no doubt Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay in the test series while MSD was the sole contributor in the shorter version.

How did the bowlers fare? Who did well and who did not?

1. Ravindra Jadeja did well in the opportunities he received during the ODIs and tests, making it an interesting headache for Dhoni in future tests. How he will be fitted into the playing eleven is going to be the biggest challenge for the team management, especially with the friendly rivalry of Ashwin.
2. Ishant Sharma's bowling in the two ODIs were the reason he played in the test series. But, his performance in the tests were again back to his usual standard. The team management might be thinking of having him as the head of the bowling pack when Zaheer retires but he is nowhere in the same zone.
3. Shami captured 9 (ODIs) and 6 (tests) during the tour, making him the most valuable bowler from the Indian team. He has improved quite well from his debut and has the ingredients to be one of the forces for Indian cricket.
4. Zaheer did well in the first test but lacked energy in the second when the going got tough. When the pitches do not do well, Zak has a lesser role to play. But, he will be required to guide his younger compatriots for the rest of the year given that the team will be on major tours.

Player	Mat	Inns	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wickets	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4	5	10	Format
Bhuvneshwar Kumar	1	1	9	0	68	0	-		-	7.55	-	0	0		ODIs
Ishant Sharma	2	4	90	17	313	5	4/79	5/170	62.60	3.47	108		0	0	Tests
Ishant Sharma	2	2	17	1	78	4	4/40		19.50	4.58	25.50	1	0		ODIs
Mohit Sharma	1	1	10	0	82	0	-		-	8.20	-	0	0		ODIs
Mohammed Shami	2	4	75	11	263	6	3/107	5/155	43.83	3.50	75		0	0	Tests
Mohammed Shami	3	3	28	1	185	9	3/48		20.55	6.60	18.60	0	0		ODIs
R Ashwin	1	2	42	5	108	0	-	-	-	2.57	-		0	0	Tests
R Ashwin	3	3	28	0	169	1	1/48		169.00	6.03	168.00	0	0		ODIs
Ravindra Jadeja	1	2	62.2	15	154	6	6/138	6/154	25.66	2.47	62.3		1	0	Tests
Ravindra Jadeja	3	3	24	0	139	1	1/49		139.00	5.79	144.00	0	0		ODIs
Rohit Sharma	2	2	11.4	1	39	0	-	-	-	3.34	-		0	0	Tests
Suresh Raina	3	3	10	0	55	0	-		-	5.50	-	0	0		ODIs
Umesh Yadav	2	2	15	0	102	1	1/57		102.00	6.80	90.00	0	0		ODIs
Virat Kohli	2	1	6	0	18	0	-	-	-	3.00	-		0	0	Tests
Virat Kohli	3	3	8	0	54	1	1/15		54.00	6.75	48.00	0	0		ODIs
Zaheer Khan	2	3	88.3	11	320	7	4/88	5/223	45.71	3.61	75.8		0	0	Tests
Murali Vijay	2	1	1	0	3	0	-	-	-	3.00	-		0	0	Tests
MS Dhoni	2	1	2	0	4	0	-	-	-	2.00	-		0	0	Tests

Bhuvi, Mohit and sadly for India, Ashwin did not do well during their outings. Mohit has already paid for it by losing his place for the NZ tour while Ashwin still gets picked for both versions. Dhoni has found an able bowler during the latter stages - Suresh Raina on recent evidence has done well in this new role. Virat Kohli was another bowler tried out by Dhoni to complete the middle stages. Hopefully, the team will learn from their errors and grow further. The bowling pack needs to fire and provide support to the batsmen for India to win anything outside their backyard.