No choker, only inefficient tag

I don't think the chokers tag is well suited for South Africa since the 2003 world cup when they were hardly the team that anybody would have wanted to beat. I can still remember the then South African captain-Shaun Pollock being given an over short in their 1^st game against West Indies which was solely South Africa's fault for maintaining a slow over rate bowling first. And then there was the match against New Zealand where though South Africa managed a satisfactory 307 provided by Herschelle Gibbs, Stephen Fleming's men also had equal zest in them to fight it out on the field.

New Zealand were given a revised target of 229 runs from 39 overs which was still over run a ball. All odds supported New Zealand despite South Africa having scored a 300+ total for, the Kiwis lost just one wicket en route to their successful run chase. The last was the game against Sri Lanka where a wrong signal from the stands ended the match in a draw and with it the South African dream not only in the world cup but also to reach the super sixes. Sri Lanka did their part of the game best by not relying on their wins against West Indies and New Zealand alone.

Atapattu did a fab job scoring 124* from 118 balls showing equal fight rather than just being a team that would cash out from the bad luck that the Proteas are believed to be cursed with. So was the case in 2007 when South Africans were far from being the favorites. With a miserable loss to Australia twice that included a complete surrender to Glenn McGrath in the semi-finals and New Zealand along with a clueless loss to Bangladesh, it was lack of the presence of India and Pakistan that saw South Africa in the semi-finals. I just cannot tell you My view on anything and everything under the sun.

The South Africans were favorites to win the cup only in the 1996 and 1999 editions where they had beaten all opponents in the league stages until they lost the plot in the knock out games against West Indies and Australia. This time, the South Africans have to consider themselves lucky to have ended up as the top team beating India and West Indies. A loss against England chasing 173 cannot be justified and neither can the loss yesterday against the Kiwis with the likes of Smith, deVilliars and Kallis. South Africa are gifted with the most promising squad even better than Sri Lanka and India. But, lack of commitment needs a heavy payment.

After failing to chase, RSA fail to defent as well

Well if the second one dayer between India and South Africa at Johannesburg comes in for much criticism from most around the world, the Proteas have yet again made news for the wrong reasons when they failed to win a winning battle which came in defending a rather decent score of 220 on the board with the pitch assisting the bowlers to a greater extent. Some stupid part time bowlers like Yuvraj Singh could control the South African batsmen let alone strike bowlers like Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan. Some Munaf Patel who rarely makes it to the 15 member squad makes his day.

This time, India were playing the hosts without another star player - Sachin Tendulkar in addition to the absence of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. The total what the Proteas left before the second innings started was a combined effort of half centuries from the blades of Jean Paul Duminy and Faf Du Plessis, the latter who was making his debut appearance in a one day international. Of course, even South Africa was without their key player in Jacques Kallis, but being the hosts and winning the toss, they should have had no reason to defend their defeat once again.

Batting was looking terribly tough taking the way the South African batsmen were struggling after winning the toss and opting to bat first. However, a 5^th wicket partnership of 110 runs between the aforementioned players made all of us feel that the South African players are back in the game which was only half truth. The remaining half being that their bowling was exactly opposite to what their batsmen could manage. The scoreboard which read 200/4 at one point of time in the 45^th over eventually ended by freezing at 220 with the hosts losing all their ten wickets, meaning just 20 runs were added before 6 more wickets fell.

Just a couple of days back, South Africa failed to chase down a mere target of 191 after falling 1 run short. And, what happened in the 3^rd one dayer has well been depicted. Shortly, the Proteas will be heading to the same venue to against which it is seen reeling even without any sort of pressure. However, the South Africans can tend to relax a little bit, for they are not grouped with India in pool A. But, what if South Africa happens to face India in the quarter final which is a knock out affair? They'll be reminded of the 1996 WC.

I wish the South African players Travel the World before they head on to the sub continent to play the game's most respected tournament - the world cup.

A gift for South Africa

Well this has always been the case with test matches between India and South Africa be it in India or in South Africa. So far a neutral venue for such a series has not happened. Coming to the point, this time as well, like usual India have lost the first test against South Africa which is evident from the scorecard. This is the second time in the year that the two countries are facing each other for a full fledged series that involves test, one day and T20 games. Of course, who can forget the earlier encounter this year between the two countries?

One need not be reminded the way Hashim Amla from South Africa emerged the most economical player with the bat by remaining not out in all but one occasion and needless to be said specially was awarded the man of the series. And, coming to the big occasion, this was the series where Sachin Tendulkar scored his the first double century in the history of one day or limited overs cricket. Well, past is past and in the ongoing series in South Africa, India have started on a bad note by losing the 1^st test by an innings margin. But, is this the end of all?

Bad need not be bad always for, it is the bad first that turns into good later. For more details, you can approach the cathara beneath the maskara though this has got nothing to do with yesterday's match. For onlookers, team India fared very badly especially when the margin of defeat reads an innings and 25 runs. But, I wish you think once again! India are touring South Africa which is a totally different experience considering their recent tours against Australia and New Zealand which were played at home with limited success. India should have won all three tests against new Zealand.

With the venue being new to team India, initial hiccups can be given an excuse for, the world champions Australia couldn't draw even a single match during the recently concluded Border - Gavaskar trophy. In the first innings where India scored 136, more than the South African bowling line up, it was India's newness to the country and the pitch which was evident in the second innings when India fought until the end by amassing 459 runs despite ending on the losing side. Taking the 1^st innings into consideration, India should have failed even more miserably. But, there was Dhoni, Sehwag, Gambhir and Dravid in addition to Sachin Tendulkar who showed confidence.

India did lose the match but gained a lot in terms of experience and confidence.

Kallis breaks Ganguly's record!

Well records mean records and they don't make a difference whether they are for the good reasons or for the bad. And, the case is exactly the same when it comes to the South Africa's most experienced batsman bowler all - rounder when he scored his first double hundred in tests (obviously). Prior to this feat of Kallis, his highest score in test match cricket was 189 which he scored against West Indies way back in the late 2003. With four players in history to have crossed the 300 run mark twice, Kallis feat is well short of reasons to celebrate. But, lots to be satisfied with.

Atleast now, Kallis need not retire with a bad mark that none of his 38 hundreds in test match cricket had a double hundred. One double hundred is better than none of them to his credit whatsoever. Kallis is way ahead compared to the Waugh brothers - viz Mark and Steve with stats suggesting that Steve Waugh had just one double hundred while Mark Waugh had just one score above 150 in tests, let alone double hundreds. So has been the case with the former India captain Sourav Ganguly who scored his first double hundred in his last test match against Pakistan in 2008.

Likewise, the England all - rounder Andrew Flintoff retired from test cricket last year after winning the Ashes without a single double hundred against his name. This was the last thing that was expected from one of the world's most promising all - rounder. Flintoff has been responsible for England's Ashes victory on two occasions. With that apart, few other examples include Sri Lanka's world cup winnings captain Arjuna Ranatunga whose highest individual test score is an unbeaten 135 against Pakistan in his 4^th year of serving his country in international cricket. That score stood as his highest individual score for 13 more years until he called it a day.

If those were regarding batsmen who had limited success with double hundreds, it is strange to know that some lesser known cricketer like Marvan Atapattu had six double hundreds to his credit, with three of them coming against Zimbabwe and one against Bangladesh. Even Sachin Tendulkar has just 5 double hundreds to his name which is one less than what Atapattu could manage. Bowlers like Wasim Akram and Jason Gillespie have one hundreds against their name which puts them on par with Ganguly and Kallis off late when their double hundreds are compared. Finally, I'd like to put an end to this topic by dedicating it to my friend with whom I had all these stats which I've put up and with this I say Happy Birthday Buddha!.

Just another step towards victory

As I always say regarding whenever the West Indies go out there in the middle to take on the opposition, this time as well, the opponents namely South Africa did everything right and effortlessly to overcome the West Indies. Continuing from day before where the Proteas had left after the captain Graeme Smith notched up a century against a bowling squad that can just fill in the vacant places in the squad. With that being an old and an outdated issue, the point to be seen here is that Smith is found boasting victories only against West Indies and no other team in the world.

It is evident still the way the Proteas lost the second test on their tour to India in February early this year. In the second day of the second test against the West Indies, Smith and his team had another day on the field wherein they all were found doing was to continue the good work they had done on the first day's play. Meanwhile, it was Graeme Smith himself who came up with a century when he scored 132 day before yesterday to become the driving force for his team's to-be victory in the second test. Nothing special or creative in it.

The first step for the Proteas is a close being over when they piled up a total in excess of 500 by the end of half a day past the first day. All they have now got to do is to wait and see from the position where they field the way the West Indian batting crumbles in the days to come. However, if the West Indies' batting is seen in the hours that have collapsed yesterday, they are found to have as usual reduced the degree of humiliation by reducing the margin of defeat. In this case, the defeat may be on the 5^th day or by a few runs less than what they had in their first test.

There was an individual score of an unbeaten 46 by the West Indian captain Chris Gayle which will not bring him the captain's knock in any way. And that is far from expectation and also far from deserving at the same time. One thing that can be seen from the South Africa's first innings is not only that there were three batsmen who scored centuries but also between them contributed as many as 377 runs out of 543 runs which happens to be close to 3/4^th of the total. However, this cannot give a conclusion that the pitch was a batsman's paradise for, the opposition is West Indies. Likewise, Smith can experiment from the next test onwards after winning this one.

Enough....but not enough!

Well for all those cricket freaks who are into the ongoing first match of the test series between South Africa and the West Indies, here it is. Cricinfo is a better site to tell you what exactly happened on the 2^nd day of the test at Antigua but, my views about the test and the day as well differ slightly. However, the view does not dispute the fact that the two Bs who were there to entertain the crowd who come to watch their favourite game cricket without favoring wither of the teams namely South Africa and West Indies out there.

However, the second day though belonging to the Proteas, some share was taken by the home team as well not only for Sulieman Benn who captured four more wickets after the first day's effort which saw him take the wicket of Hashim Amla and with that the tally of his wickets in the innings reached the magical figure of 5. Despite all odds, Sulieman Benn showed the cricketing world that he can do better things than on field spats with both his teammates and opponents as well. No one expects the West Indies to win the game and that too against South Africa.

But, as a home team, fans can nonetheless support their country though not deserving and the only satisfaction they take home would be that they put up a better performance compared to their previous one. And this time as well, the West Indies were found doing just that when they not only bowled out South Africa for a score just below 350 but also got them back in the pavilion on the second day itself. Speaking precisely, the game didn't last for two days, with only 34 overs being able to be bowled on the first day. Anyways, that is a different issue of what happened on day 1.

If the West Indies continue their good work from here onwards, one can expect a miracle to happen. This would shake all betting freaks who would have bet all their money on the Proteas taking the West Indies for granted which they deserve. It is indeed a more than decent performance from the West Indies' side when they bowled the South Africans for a score just above 350 as mentioned above. However, the Proteas still have the match well in their hands for, the bowling from the South African part is way ahead compared to that from the West Indians.

They have bowlers of the ranks of Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn and others for whom the West Indies have no answer, both as a batting unit or as a bowling one. Though there are bowlers like Benn and Bravo, they can lest be treated on par with some Hussain from Bangladesh team and not with even a part time bowler from South Africa like say Graeme Smith or Jacques Kallis. So, keeping these things in mind, one can conclude that the West Indies' performance as a bowling unit is enough to reduce the margin of defeat but not win a test match.

Crap the West Indies!

Well as expected, Chris Gayle's team had a sound ending to the bilateral series against South Africa which they finally lost by a 5-0 margin. This was the 3^rd time that the West Indies team was whitewashed by the Proteas. But, I can assure you that this would not be the last time that the West indies are whitewashed be it by South Africa or by any other team. Except Bangladesh, no other team in the world can ever hope of losing a bilateral series against the West Indies. Much to anybody's amazement, this was yet another thrilling finish when the Proteas had lost 9 wickets.

This is the fourth time the matches between the two teams had ended in a tight finish and anyone who would have seen the series thoroughly would no longer want to see another high drama like this atleast in the near future. For the second time in this tournament, the West Indies put up a score in excess of 250 but, not even once or not even a single score could see them through any of the 5 games played. Initially, the South Africans had a bit of problems when their captain Graeme Smith was forced to change the hands of the ball 7 times which finally paid off though not well.

There were just two South African bowlers in Raelof van der Merwe and Johan Botha who bowled their complete quota of ten overs though there were the likes of Jacques Kallis, Charles Langeveldt who could have done so, with the former having a vast experience and the latter making a name for himself as a striking bowler atleast in the current South African squad. The West Indies did well to reach 250+ score by not losing wickets at regular intervals which showed that they were taking atleast this game quite seriously. And, this would have made Gayle satisfied for having shown a better performance.

This was a better performance from the West Indian batsmen compared to their previous match where they posted a 300+ total yet ended up losing. That was not a match where the West Indies' batsmen took time and played cautiously like this time. The West Indians had a tough time facing the wrath of every South African bowler though not fierce but fierce at the same time as far as the caliber of the West Indies team is considered. This should have seen the West Indies winning provided their bowling provided the much needed caliber. The West Indies' bowling is all gone with the Walsh - Ambrose - Bishop trio I suppose.

Better but not enough from WI

Well since the start of the bilateral series between the West Indies and South Africa, there has always been an improvement from the West Indies from match to match which has seen them lose rather less miserably compared to hat had happened to them in the earlier match. And, this time as well in the fourth one day match between the two nations mentioned, the West Indies for the first time in this tournament posted a total in excess of 300 but to no avail when they still lost the match to the Proteas by 7 wickets thus making it four in a row.

Atleast after their loss in the third one day, the West Indies were expected to bounce back and save some face by winning the remaining two inconsequential match against South Africa. But, one of them has already been lost by the West Indies and there is one more to go which still favors the Proteas than the West Indians. The match reached the ultimate delivery of the match which the West indies team could have still cashed in upon. But, that never seemed so for the West indies who can only win against any non test playing nation or worst come Bangladesh.

On the other side of the cricketing world, the Zimbabwe team which loses matches against even Bangladesh is seen beating India despite India posting a total of 289 on the board. With the present day West Indies team being so hungry to lose, the remaining teams can well reserve all their experimenting with the West Indies rather than Bangladesh or any other non test playing nation. One has to imagine how come the West Indies managed a win against India in the super eights of the world T20 held in their home a couple of weeks back! Is it their home team advantage that gave them the edge?

In the previous game, which was the last chance for the West Indies to save the series, they had bowled the South Africans to a below par total of 224 but failed to chase down the same when they lost all their wickets for a score less than 175. And this time, despite posting a total in excess of 300, they failed to defend it. So, one has to imagine where on earth does the West Indies go wrong? They fail to defend a huge total when batting first and also fail to chase a mere total when bowling first. Forget about defending the total, they could not take more than three South African wickets.

Such improvement does not guarantee a place for the teammates. Is Chris Gayle there?

The assault starts on West Indies

Well no words or actions can stop the West Indies team from losing be it on their home turf or outside, the result is never bound to change. West Indies lose their first T20 match against South Africa played at North Sound yesterday. The threatening call from the West Indian captain Chris Gayle is still not found to work one can suppose. The warning from the WICB goes unanswered by everyone from the West Indies squad that includes Chris Gayle. In fact, Chris Gayle's name must appear first in the list of the probables who should be shown the doors for his performance in the first T20 game against the Proteas.

By god's grace and a lot of co operation from the West Indian side, one could see a five wicket haul being taken by McLaren when he was about to complete his full quota of 4 overs when he fell just 1 ball short. This was all the more expected and such statements from Chris Gayle can only make people laugh. The WICB would be far from being satisfied despite their team's loss if the West Indies lose with some dignity unlike the way it is happening now or since the last decade. So far, in international cricket there have been batsmen getting out without scoring a single run but it rarely happens that the batsman even fails to play a delivery before he gets out.

Once again anyone who missed watching yesterday's match missed something really interesting. The first one as mentioned being the 5 wicket haul by McLaren and second one being the rare situation where Deonarine gets out for a duck without even playing a single delivery, not even the ball for which he was out. Deonarine was out for a ball that was declared wide by the umpires which on one side added an extra run to the West Indian side and on the other hand a wicket to the South African side. The second event was unexpected. This is a rare case where a bowler is applauded for something which should have seen him invite a penalty.

Some highlights for the West Indies to feel comfortable would be that they lost the match by just 13 runs which is not that bad a loss than what the fans would have thought it to be. When ever the West Indies team is playing, a more challenging bet would be to predict the margin of loss the West Indies team will suffer, with the fact that they will surely lose the game already being obliged by one and all. Scorecard of the match reveals that the West Indies captain bought in 8 out of ten player to bowl. With one game already in front of us, it would be more fascinating for all of us to see how the series might end. So lets wait and watch.

Lucky Pakistan

Well as usual, South Africa have always been at the receiving end of the bad luck, ill fate or mis fortune - whichever you call. But, this time in addition to the Proteas being unlucky, the opposition namely Pakistan were found to be lucky when they made it to the semi finals of the world T20 tournament despite losing two matches in the super eights of the mega tournament. Luck struck Pakistan twice on the same single day, first when they won the game against South Africa and second when England beat New Zealand by 3 wickets (the margin of victory or loss being of little importance here).

Though South Africa were considered as favorites before heading to the match against Pakistan, there is no reason as to why the Pakistanis should not beat them. In fact, Pakistan stood a better chance of wining the game than the South Africans not only for beating them in the previous world cup last year but also owing to the fact that Pakistan stand a better position when it comes to big hitting compared to the Proteas. This is evident from the fact that South Africa still rely upon the age old Jacques Kallis who no doubt falls short when it comes to making the crease while stealing a single.

Though there are the likes of A B Devilliars and Graeme Smith in the South African team, they can make contact with the ball only once in every bluemoon. No doubt that Devilliars is gifted with the ability to hit big shot out of the ground but with the condition that the bat makes contact with the ball which is a rarity in Devilliars' case. Scorecard suggests that Devilliars hit 2 sixes enroute to his 53 which eventually proved to be the highest individual score in the South African innings. But, rather than calling it a decent contribution, it can be referred to as a result of a blind swing of the bat by Devilliars.

Of course, the Pakistani hard hitting batsman Shahid Afridi also belongs to the same category and more than that can be considered as the daddy of them all. But, the other side of the coin also suggests that Shahid Afridi has the ability to spin the ball equivalently like any genuine spinner like say Saqlain Mushtaq or Harbhajan Singh. As a matter of statistics, this is the first time that in a T20 world cup South Africa are eliminated from the world cup not for losing their first match. One can remember the way the Proteas crashed out of the tournament earlier when they lost to India in 2007 and Pakistan in 2009, both of which were their 1^st losses in the series.

Triple treat for Mumbai Indians

At last, the Mumbai Indians became the first side in this edition of the Indian Premier League to enter the semi finals. However, they had to wait almost a week to get into there. A win against the Chenni Superkings would have assured the Mumbai Indians a berth in the semi finals which was scheduled on the 6^th of this month at Chennai. But, all that the match would be remembered for would be the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar on the field due to the scorching heat in Chennai. Mumbai lost that game to the CSK by 7 wickets which delayed their march to the semis.

Then came the match against the Kings XI Punjab where a win should have been guaranteed to the Mumbai Indians for they were facing a team which was placed at the bottom of the IPL points table. But, no one needs to be specially said regarding the result of the match. The Mumbai Indians lost yet another time in the IPL. Coincidentally, that was the 2^nd defeat that the Mumbai Indians had in this edition of the IPL and on the other side, it was the 2^nd win for the Kings XI Punjab in this year's IPL after Sangakkara's men had beaten Kolkata Knight Riders by 8 wickets.

This was not only a match for the Mumbai Indians that took them to the semi finals of the IPL but also a match where Sachin Tendulkar grabbed the orange cap from Jaques Kallis after scoring an unbeaten 89 and over taking Kallis by 11 runs with both of them having the same number of matches and the same highest score. This was also the match that saw Sachin Tendulkar hit 2 sixes which was twice of what he could in the earlier 10 matches put together. Tendulkar has so far scored 5 half centuries which is one less than Jacques Kallis (once again).

This was Sachin Tendulkar's 4^th man of the match award and a much deserving one. Mumbai Indians were facing the Rajasthan Royals on their home ground where the Rajasthan Royals were fresh from their win against Kings XI Punjab and the Mumbai Indians fresh from the loss against the same Kings XI Punjab. Once again, what a coincidence! Mumbai Indians were at one stage reeling at 93 runs on the board with the loss of 4 wickets and Sachin having scored 48 from 43 deliveries compared to the final score of 174 with Sachin's individual score being 89 meaning an additional 41 runs from 15 balls.

Big guns yet to fire in this IPL

It doesn't matter for the audience if Shane Warne doesn't get the ball to turn like it used to happen in the Ashes. There is no one complaining if Sachin Tendulkar doesn't get a hundred in the IPL or becomes the highest run getter like he has done in the 2003 world cup in South Africa. But, if someone like Virender Sehwag fails to hit a six in almost every match, the fans are disappointed outside Delhi as well. And much to anybody's surprise, this has been going on for the past three weeks in the current edition of the IPL.

The big guns from whom fire crackers are expected happen to be Virender Sehwag, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds, Sanath Jayasuriya, Yuvraj Singh etc to name a few. However, none of them have kept up their word which they meant when they were paid huge sums. Sanath Jayasuriya can be given an excuse with Sachin Tendulkar not making up his mind to include him in the playing XI. And, there have been quite a few players like Andrew Flintoff and Jacob Oram who can be as punishing with the bat as they can get. But, injuries have overpowered them once again unfortunately.

And then, there is McCullum and Ross Taylor who have made their entry into the IPL just a day back after finishing their full fledged series against Australia. Though Jacques Kallis and Sachin Tendulkar are found doing justice to the money paid to them and the expectations the fans have had in them, their nature of play can hardly be paralleled with someone like Gilchrist or Symonds. So far Gilchrist has had just one score above 50 and an aggregate of 118 runs from 8 games played so far. And, when it comes to Symonds, his record is just above Gilchrist's with the batsman scoring 2 half centuries and aggregating 232 runs but at a strike rate of 122 compared to 174 by Gilchrist.

Then we have Sehwag whose fastest fifty against Chennai Super Kings was overshadowed by 6 innings with scores less than 20. And, when it comes to Mathew Hayden who held the orange cap in the last season of the IPL, the only highlight this time would be the score of 93 he scored against Delhi Daredevils. And, nothing needs to be specially said about Yuvraj Singh who has had series of scores as follows: 4, 9, 4, 43, 15, 24, 2 and 36 which total upto 137 from the 8 games he has played so far. There have been situations in the past as well when a few or may be most of the expected batsmen disappoint. But, this time it is all the expected batsmen who have disappointed without any exceptions.

Garden turns forest for the Proteas

Well the cricket stadium at Kolkata can be mistaken by any innocent people to be a garden as the name Eden Garden suggests. But, yesterday, the South Africans not only got deceived in their minds but also felt it practically after their team had an initial run, only to find themselves kicking at the end of the day. The team which was at one stage 218/2 at the end of the 52nd over, at an astonishing run rate of over 4.0 (which is far better compared to the standards of test cricket) had to end the day losing just one wicket less than an unofficial declare.

It was the same Hashim Amla along with Petersen who belted the Indian bowling with power and experience of their previous victory in the tournament. Hashim Amla belted 114 and on the other hand, it was debutant Alviro Nathan petersen who scored his hundred as well. This would have and should have put enormous pressure upon the Indian bowlers players, especially with the fact that they had lost the Nagpur test and were lagging behind in the test series. Added to that would be the fact that India will have to let go its number 1 position in test cricket which it has been holding since past 2 series'.

It is hard to digest losing something that he has been holding for so long and something which he has rarely held in his life. Team India belong to the 2nd category, for they held on to the number 1 position in test cricket which wasn't possible atleast as long as Tendulkar has been around in Indian cricket. When a debutant in Petersen can notch up a hundred and that too at a venue far away from home, questions would surely start raising in people's minds regarding the fate of the match despite there being 4 more days and atleast 2 more innings to go.

Finally, at the end of the day, the extras had its say when it held the position number 3 when it comes to the highest individual scores in the South African innings. Indian bowlers bowled 26 extras, that was bettered by only two centurions mentioned above. The match didn't start in any different manner, when Smith once again lost his battle to Zaheer Khan after scoring 4 runs. The bowler got his price of 4 wickets and as expected and mentioned in one of my earlier posts, Harbhajan Singh did the damage that he could. It would be nice to see as to who would come forward to take the blame for the 1st day's debacle of the South African batting.

Is Smith confident about his decisions?

As expected at the end of the second day's play between India and South Africa, South Africa did pile up a mammoth total of 556 for the loss of 6 wickets before declaring the innings. However, a close look at the game's play suggests that the South African captain might have erred in declaring the innings with still 4 wickets in hand. If the scorecard of the South African 1^st innings is given a close look at, it is well evident that the pitch might be a pure batting paradise. For, the South Africans lost just 4 wickets on day 2 of the test match.

If not for the opening pair of Graeme Smith and Ashwell Prince, none of the South African batsmen had any sorts of problems with the Indian bowlers. As a matter of fact, South Africans have been comparatively bad players of spin compared to the teams from the sub continent. And the scorecard suggests us that the bowler who maintained the worst economy in the first innings happened to be India's leading and most experienced spinner Harbhajan Singh who ended with an economy rate of 3.60. Moreover, Harbhajan had just 1 maiden which was the lowest among the lot with just one over maiden.

A part time off spinner in Sehwag can come out with an equal number of overs maiden, that Harbhajan could do out of his 46 overs. And, who all batted from the South African team, if not for Prince and Smith, every other batsmen came out with good success barring Duminy. However, prior to the series, India were expected to atleast draw the series with the Proteas, in case they needed to stay at the top of the test ratings, which suggests that the pressure is on India though being the hosts. If the South African first innings is considered, they need not worry about losing, for worst come the match might end in a draw. But, is that the spirit of the way a game is supposed to be played?

In one way, Smith's decision to declare the innings can be given a nod for, the Indian team is too short of batsmen if not for the likes of Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gambhir and Dhoni. Despite the presence of these four, and their capability to score runs, they can hardly be considered to put up a decent partnership that is quintessential in test cricket. India have lost batsmen in Laxman and Dravid, who can stay at the crease for long time that can exhaust the opposition bowlers. Added to that, South Africa have a match winning bowler combination in Dale Steyn, Morkel and Harris along with the experience of Kallis. So, Smith's decision is now in a toss whose result is expected tomorrow.

Count down for India has begun

Needless to be said, the first day of the first test between India and South Africa belonged solely to the Proteas. The only satisfaction for team India was that Zaheer Khan once again haunted the South African captain Graeme Smith when he took his wicket for a score of 6. However, India should have been more cautious about South Africa, who can not only defeat India in the ongoing test series but also throw them from the number one test position that India are now enjoying. It was the same men that played sensible knocks in the warm-up game against the Indian President's Board XI who belted the Indian bowlers.

Some under estimation from the Indian bowlers can be sensed from the way the bowlers especially Ishanth Sharma and Zaheer Khan bowled. Though Zaheer Khan was successful in claiming the wicket of Greame Smith and Ashwell Prince, the line & length that he maintained was not upto the mark. Moreover, replays of the dismissal of Ashwell Prince suggests that the ball from Zaheer Khan hit the arm guard before being caught by the wicket keeper. The decision was in favor of Zaheer Khan which can be called lucky rather than someone's effort. So, all that the Indian bowlers can boast of is one wicket in the entire day.

And, one has to wonder why did Dhoni introduce spin bowling from the 12th over itself, when suggestions say that spin bowling would be effective only after a minimum of 20 overs have been bowled (which is more the case in test matches)? Another fact that needs to be condemned is the inclusion of wicket keeper Saha, who was made to field, when the main motive in including him was to keep wickets. Dhoni may have done the same previously as well regarding Dinesh Karthik but, this time it is more foolish I suppose. What sense does it make in making a proffessional wicketkeeper field?

May be only Dhoni has the answer for that. In the past, Australia have played both Adam Gilchrist and Brad Haddin, both of whom are meant to keep wickets, but the thing to be noticed was that it was Haddin who kept wickets and not Gilchrist. This was in a tri series in Holland involving Australia, India & Pakistan in 2004. If the way the South African batsmen played is given a close look at, it cannot be ruled out that the pitch may be the one that favors batsmen. If that is the case, one can see Sehwag notching up another triple double hundred atleast. But, if not for Sachin, no other noted test batsman can be seen from the squad.

Warm-Up game for whose sake?

Every tour be it anywhere in the world is preceded with one or two warm up games, reason being one, to help the visitors get an idea about the playing conditions in that country and two, to help the lesser known players by giving an opportunity by exposing them to some international standards. But, if the recently concluded warm up game between South Africa and Indian Board President's XI is considered, it is just not understandable as to why was the game played? Usually, if the warm up games are considered, it is worst come a three day affair unlike the 2 day match that was played.

The Indian Board President's XI, which were expected to have some match practice, were seen making a fool out of themselves after their top order batsmen had a highest score of 43 that came from the blades of Manish Pandey. The highest scorer for the Indian Board President's XI was a number 7 batsmen Abhishek Nayar who scored 100 and that was followed by Shikar Dhawan who scored 70. On the other hand, the visitors did make good use of the match with half centuries from Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla. It is not to be disputed that their experience in international cricket have made them do that feat.

It was fascinating to see the South African captain bring in as many as ten bowlers to bowl, with the wicket keeper Mark Boucher being the only exception. This is the first time that I had seen any team bowling 10 bowlers. I wonder as to what was Greame Smith trying to prove by tossing the ball to all ten bowlers in his team. I wish Smith had made even Mark Boucher remove his wicket keeping kits and come on to bowl as well. This is one such match where the top scorers of South African innings-Kallis and Amla get out retired hurt.

But, the million dollar question is why was the warm-up game held and for whose sake? If one goes by the warm-up games held all over, it is either a three day affair and there are more than one warm-up games played. If the recent past is considered, the Australia-Pakistan had a warm-up game with Queensland that was a 3 day match. The reason that can be guessed here is that the BCCI wants to fit the IPL and so for that they wanted to terminate the home tour of South Africa as soon as possible. Else, why would the entire tournament last for just 21 days?