Tag: South Africa

India vs South Africa: Fewer To See The Last Test Match In Ranchi Ground.

Source – sportzwiki.com

The interest to watch Test matches has gone down after the introduction of the shorter format of cricket. The grounds are seen empty during the longer format cricket. Same is the view of the Ranchi ground where India will fight for the third and last Test match against South Africa from Saturday (19th October).

Sanjay Sahay, the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) secretary, said that less than 1500 tickets are sold in swank stadium which has the capacity of 39,000 people. Ranchi will have their second Test match in the Indian cricket history but the natives are not interested to see the match.

“If there is any demand, it is for daily tickets in the hospitality area priced at ~2000,” said Sahay. The daily tickets prices range from ~200 to ~2000 and the cheapest season ticket costs ~1000, he said.

Sahay said that 5000 tickets are distributed among the para-military forces, the army, local police and National Cadet Corps. Ranchi is the home ground of MS Dhoni but the player is not playing the series so it can be the reason for less no. of people to watch the Test match. Sahay said that if Dhoni would play then also maximum 20,000 tickets would have been sold.

This Test will help to understand the condition of Ranchi ground

Sahay also opined that this Test match will help to check the conditions of the light, pitch and fire arrangement of the ground.

“The advantage of staging this match is that we could check whether everything, from the pitch, the lights, the fire arrangements are working. It is because of this Test we have also got the (50-over knockout) Deodhar Trophy (October 31-November 4),” said Sahay.

Sourav Ganguly who will take the new role of BCCI president has opined that he will look forward to introducing day-night Test match. Sahay said that the ground team will have to make the arrangement according to that format.

“We will have to do something to keep this format relevant,” said Khan.

Rishabh Pant chills with MS Dhoni at his home in Ranchi.

Source – indiatoday.in

Time and again young Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has expressed his admiration for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and has admitted that it will be tough for him to fill in the big shoes’ of former India captain, who is in the twilight of his career.

Rishabh Pant on Friday took to Instagram to post a picture with MS Dhoni and captioned it: Good Vibes Only. In the picture, Pant can be seen chilling out with India legend at the latter’s residence in Ranchi.

MS Dhoni was spotted in the Indian dressing room after the team’s innings and 202-run win over South Africa at the JSCA International Cricket Stadium in Ranchi in the last Test.

Dhoni was not picked for the three-match series against Bangladesh and it is yet not clear whether the 39-year-old wicketkeeper made himself available for selection or not. Prasad though, stated that they are looking for younger options in the shortest format with Pant being the man in focus for them.

Dhoni has not played any form of cricket since India’s exit from the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup in England in July. He took a break from the sport to train with his regiment in the Territorial Indian Army after which he made himself unavailable for the limited-overs series against South Africa at home.

Rishabh Pant, who has been in poor form with the bat this year in limited-overs cricket, was picked as first choice wicket-keeper for the T20I series against Bangladesh. His wicketkeeping skills are improving but there is still a lot of scope of improvement.

In 9 ODIs this year, Pant has managed just 188 runs in 8 innings at an average of 23.50 with 48 being his highest score. In the 10 T20Is that he has played in 2019, Pant has managed 168 runs at 21 with one half-century to his name.

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. 

India vs South Africa: R Ashwin aims to surpass Harbhajan Singh in elite list led by Anil Kumble

Source: hindustantimes.com

Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is going though a rich vein of form and he will look for similar level of performance when India take on South Africa in the third and final Test of three-match series starting Saturday. The hosts have already taken an unassailable lead courtesy of their convincing victories in first two Tests. Virat Kohli and his troops will now aim to whitewash Proteas at JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi.

For that to happen, India will hope Ashwin continues his scintillating wicket-taking run in the third Test. With 14 wickets in two Tests, the tweaker in the leading wicket-taker in the series thus far, four ahead of teammate Ravindra Jadeja.

An added incentive for Ashwin will be that he could surpass Harbhajan Singh in the list of most wickets taken by an Indian bowler against South Africa in the longest format. Ashwin needs nine wickets to overhaul Harbhajan and secure the third spot in the list led by Anil Kumble.

Ashwin continued his rise in the ICC Test Rankings for bowlers after his stupendous show with the ball in Pune. Ashwin, who had entered the top 10 after the first Test in Visakhapatnam, has now moved to the seventh spot, courtesy of his six wickets which he took against the Proteas in the second Test.

Meanwhile, Kohli has already issued warning to the opponents and said India will not “take their feet off the gas” and will aim for a whitewash when the final Test begins in Ranchi.

“Looking at the larger picture of the Test championship, every game has value, whether it is at home or away, that is the format. So, we’re not going to take our foot off the gas in the third Test,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation in Pune.

“No one is going to relax at any stage, we are going to go for a result in the third Test and hopefully make it 3-0, that’s a guarantee,” he said.