Tag: India vs South Africa

India blow away South Africa in Ranchi for 3-0 clean sweep.

Source – tribuneindia.com

A formidable Indian team ticked all boxes with ease as they deservingly completed a 3-0 rout of an out-of-sorts South Africa with a comprehensive innings and 202 runs victory in the third and final Test here on Tuesday.

With another 120 points, India now sit pretty on top of the points table with 240 points as the formalities were completed within the first two overs of the day.The score line was not only an indicator of India’s absolute dominance but also the decline in standard of South African cricket as they couldn’t handle the might of India’s batting and the fiery India pace attack led by Mohammed Shami (13 wickets in the series).

Debutant Shahbaz Nadeem (2/18 in 6 overs) wrapped it up in the second over of the day as South Africa were all out for 133 in their second innings, 30 runs short of their  dismal first innings score of 162.This is India’s sixth clean sweep at home in a three-Test series and India didn’t put a foot wrong during the three-match series winning the first Test by 203 runs and the second by an innings and 137 runs.

If Rohit Sharma’s coming of age in his new role as an opener with 529 runs turned out to be a masterstroke in home conditions, Mayank Agarwal also consolidated his place in the side with a double century and a ton, easing India’s long-time opening woes.

“I was very happy to make my debut in Australia and make little contributions to the team,” Agarwal said after the match. 

Ranchi Test: Kohli’s struggle with DRS continues.

Source – cricketnmore.com

 India skipper Virat Kohli’s struggle to get the Decision Review System (DRS) right continued as he became prey to a wrong call for the ninth successive time as batsman in the first innings of the third Test against South Africa on Saturday.

Kohli was trapped in front by Anrich Nortje for 12 and it looked plumb, but the ace batsman reviewed it to no avail.

India slumped to 39/3 before centurion Rohit Sharma (117 batting) and Ajinkya Rahane (83 batting) joined hands for a 185-run unbroken stand as India reached 224/3 before bad light stopped play.

With the duo of Rohit and Rahane steadying the ship for India, batting coach Vikram Rathour praised both the batsmen. Rathour said that Rohit showed grit and determination to play away the first session when the likes of Kagiso Rabada had the ball moving viciously.

“As I said, they were bowling in good areas and there was some help in the wicket. So, as a batsman, you have to survive during that time, which Rohit did very well,” he said.

“He is too good a player to not play all formats. Opening the batting with him was the right decision. And the number of runs he has scored, he has settled the issue (of opening) for the time being.

“If somebody of his stature starts coming good at the top of the order, that changes everything for the team, even when you are touring. He is such an experienced player; I don’t think you need to tinker with his technique. He just had to make some mental adjustments vis-a-vis his gameplan.”

Commenting on Rahane’s knock, the former India opener said that the Test deputy showed great intent and looked good in the middle during his unbeaten knock of 83.

“Ajinkya showed great intent today. Whenever he bats with this intent, he looks a really good player,” Rathour said.

Only 1,500 tickets sold: Ranchi will think ‘twice’ about hosting Tests in the future

Source: scroll.in

Test cricket is the format that brings out the best in cricketers but it certainly isn’t managing to bring people to stadiums in India. The recent Ashes series between England and Australia witnessed houseful stands but in India, Test cricket is going the Ranji Trophy way – with empty stands greeting the players more often than not.

The third Test of the India-South Africa series will be played in Ranchi from October 19 but the Jharkhand State Cricket Association already knows that not too many people will be turning up to watch the game.

Till Thursday, according to a report in The Indian Express, JSCA had managed to sell just 1500 tickets for the game, which will be played at Ranchi’s 39000-capacity stadium. The low sales have come despite the association trying to keep ticket prices affordable with Rs 250 per day being the lowest.

The new JSCA president, Nafis Khan said: “Next time, maybe we have to think twice before hosting a Test match. At the same time, we can’t say no also. If the state associations start rejecting Test cricket, the purest form of the game would die. It’s very sad to see empty stands. We have to make certain changes to the Test format.”

India doesn’t make it easy for spectators either. At Pune, only a handful of spectators thought it was worth their while to turn up to watch India make history. The stands are not covered and the heat means that watching – forget enjoying – is not a good experience.

School children were given free tickets in Pune and they added to the atmosphere a bit but they too were forced to sit in the harsh sun for the entire day. In Ranchi too, JSCA has distributed 5,000 complimentary tickets to the CRPF and another 10,000 tickets to schools, clubs and academies.

But it won’t be enough. Test cricket in India has long been in decline as a spectator sport. Its appeal to the modern Indian fan is limited. T20 cricket and ODIs are a party but what does Test cricket at the stadium really offer to the fan?

BCCI’s president-elect Sourav Ganguly feels that India should look at day-night cricket much more seriously and while that may not be the whole answer, it may certainly be part of it.