After a series of losses Indian team is under scanner.This blog is about the series so far and why India has not been able to find their way?
India has already lost the test series after it lost the test match in Centurion.I think the point of discussion should be what has India done right in this series because there are very few of them.If I talk about the positives then I would say that Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been the biggest positive for team India and may be Mohommad Shami to some extent.Both of them have given a very good performance in the series.Bhuvneshwar has used the conditions to the best of his advantage and caused a lot of trouble to the batsman.Mohommad Shami was outstanding in the second test match when he bowled a brillant spell.But the reason the positives have not been able to win matches is because of Virat Kohli's captaincy.After an excellent first test Bhuvneshwar Kumar was dropped and this really was a costly mistake.No captain would ever drop a bowler who has bowled exceptionallly in the first innings because we had to face a bouncy track in the second test match.This must have shattered Bhuvneshwar's confidence.Secondly in the second test match after bowling a brillant first spell Shami was taken off after lunch.This is also a bizzare descision and was very costly for the Indian team.
Hence the very first negative for India was poor captaincy and team selection.Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri are the major culprits of the descisions.I still can not figure out why Ajinkya Rahane is sitting on bench.Which team keeps its vice captain bench on such important matches?This must have dented Rahane's confidence.The batsman have not played their best game.In fact none of them have played well.They have got out playing very poor shots.Kohli had played a brillant knock in the second test match.But he has not been able to win matches for India.He has not been able to play under pressure,he has failed to perform in second innings of both matches.R.Ashwin has also not been to dominate the opponent team.In the second test match in which his ball was turning and bouncing,he failed to wrap up the South African team.I don't think his performance should be compared with Maharaj's performance because he bowled very few overs as compared to Ashwin.Hardik Pandya has also not been able to justify his place in the squad.He has neither been able to play like a batsman,nor like a bowler.His presence has just affected the balance of Indian team.He had played a brillant 93 in the first test but I do not think he will be able to replicate his performance in future.Overall I believe that Indian team is playing in ODI style,be it the captaincy or the selection or performance India has been exposed.
But we should take nothing away from South African team.They have outbeaten India in all three departments bowling,batting and fielding.Every one's contribution has been outstanding.I just want to make a special mention of Faf Du Plesis.He has not played a big innings but he has played small cameos of 40-50 runs which has helped South Africa get out of tough situations.This is what I was pointing in case of Virat Kohli.His big innings was not as helpful as the small innings by Faf Du Plesis.
Still I believe that we shouldn't have kept such high expectations from this team.Is this team as good as the 2010 series team which had Dravid,Laxman,Sachin,Harbhajan,Dhoni?The fact is this team is not even half as good as that team.Indian team was just lucky that they were able to play more than one year in sub contient pitches.No captain has been as lucky as Kohli and that is the reason all ICC awards,records have gone his way.
Finally I believe that India should work on their shortcomings and play well in the third test.Their is a long overseas tour that is lined up.Kohli should keep his calm.Dhoni was also into this rough phase but he was always polite and gentle towards press.This is the department we can be good at.Winning and loosing are the part and parcels of this game,but one should learn from his mistakes.
India has already lost the test series after it lost the test match in Centurion.I think the point of discussion should be what has India done right in this series because there are very few of them.If I talk about the positives then I would say that Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been the biggest positive for team India and may be Mohommad Shami to some extent.Both of them have given a very good performance in the series.Bhuvneshwar has used the conditions to the best of his advantage and caused a lot of trouble to the batsman.Mohommad Shami was outstanding in the second test match when he bowled a brillant spell.But the reason the positives have not been able to win matches is because of Virat Kohli's captaincy.After an excellent first test Bhuvneshwar Kumar was dropped and this really was a costly mistake.No captain would ever drop a bowler who has bowled exceptionallly in the first innings because we had to face a bouncy track in the second test match.This must have shattered Bhuvneshwar's confidence.Secondly in the second test match after bowling a brillant first spell Shami was taken off after lunch.This is also a bizzare descision and was very costly for the Indian team.
Hence the very first negative for India was poor captaincy and team selection.Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri are the major culprits of the descisions.I still can not figure out why Ajinkya Rahane is sitting on bench.Which team keeps its vice captain bench on such important matches?This must have dented Rahane's confidence.The batsman have not played their best game.In fact none of them have played well.They have got out playing very poor shots.Kohli had played a brillant knock in the second test match.But he has not been able to win matches for India.He has not been able to play under pressure,he has failed to perform in second innings of both matches.R.Ashwin has also not been to dominate the opponent team.In the second test match in which his ball was turning and bouncing,he failed to wrap up the South African team.I don't think his performance should be compared with Maharaj's performance because he bowled very few overs as compared to Ashwin.Hardik Pandya has also not been able to justify his place in the squad.He has neither been able to play like a batsman,nor like a bowler.His presence has just affected the balance of Indian team.He had played a brillant 93 in the first test but I do not think he will be able to replicate his performance in future.Overall I believe that Indian team is playing in ODI style,be it the captaincy or the selection or performance India has been exposed.
But we should take nothing away from South African team.They have outbeaten India in all three departments bowling,batting and fielding.Every one's contribution has been outstanding.I just want to make a special mention of Faf Du Plesis.He has not played a big innings but he has played small cameos of 40-50 runs which has helped South Africa get out of tough situations.This is what I was pointing in case of Virat Kohli.His big innings was not as helpful as the small innings by Faf Du Plesis.
Still I believe that we shouldn't have kept such high expectations from this team.Is this team as good as the 2010 series team which had Dravid,Laxman,Sachin,Harbhajan,Dhoni?The fact is this team is not even half as good as that team.Indian team was just lucky that they were able to play more than one year in sub contient pitches.No captain has been as lucky as Kohli and that is the reason all ICC awards,records have gone his way.
Finally I believe that India should work on their shortcomings and play well in the third test.Their is a long overseas tour that is lined up.Kohli should keep his calm.Dhoni was also into this rough phase but he was always polite and gentle towards press.This is the department we can be good at.Winning and loosing are the part and parcels of this game,but one should learn from his mistakes.
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