South Africa’s biggest forum. Discuss, discover, and connect with thousands of members.
lead is now more than the first innings score.
will smith bat out or declare when the pitch starts going full Indian?
I would make them sweat with the amount of time left in the game. Put them in tomorrow after lunch if I could bat that long.
I'm ****ing loving it
Come on Aussies!!
It's great...Aus are the underdogs here so one of the few times it's okay to root for them
These Indians needed a kick in the backside - they made the toss so important to win when we were there, it's nice to see them lose the toss and get their asses handed to them. Suck it, Ravi.
It's great...Aus are the underdogs here so one of the few times it's okay to root for them
These Indians needed a kick in the backside - they made the toss so important to win when we were there, it's nice to see them lose the toss and get their asses handed to them. Suck it, Ravi.
I hate India more due to the BCCI than the team themselves. Sometimes I want them to lose every match just to see the BCCI lose revenue.
I remember loving them in the late 90's, with Azharuddin, Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly, Jadeja, Sreenath, Kumble, Prasad etc. All respectable players, and none of this BCCI selfishness yet.
I get you but that's not for me...it's all about what happens on the field and what kind of conditions we get when we play.
Absolute annihilation. What makes their embarrassing is falling like a house of cards to spin. GG.Haha India. How does your own medicine taste? Bowled out twice in less than 80 overs.
India frugal with praise for O'Keefe
27 February 2017, 09:21
Steve O'Keefe was instrumental in helping Australia record one of the most famous test victories in recent times but hosts India have been quick to put their heavy defeat down to the pitch in Pune rather than the 32-year-old spinner's performance.
Indian batsmen have built a reputation for their prowess against the turning ball over the years but left-armer O'Keefe shattered that aura as Australia bulldozed the world's top ranked test team inside three days.
O'Keefe's 12-wicket match haul, the best figures recorded by a visiting spinner on Indian soil, earned him the man-of-the-match award but little else in terms of praise from the vanquished hosts.
India captain Virat Kohli blamed his side's twin batting collapses on their recklessness, while others felt the turning track had backfired on them.
Out-of-favour offspinner Harbhajan Singh, who has had several run-ins with Australian players, said he was not convinced by O'Keefe's performance and would need to see him in action on a better track.
"I will have to see (O'Keefe) bowl on a good test match wicket. Not this one," the 36-year-old, who had predicted a 4-0 series defeat for Australia, told reporters. "Until then, I will reserve my comments."
O'Keefe and offspinner Nathan Lyon combined to claim all 10 Indian wickets in the second innings to skittle out the hosts for 107, two more runs than they managed in the first, at a venue making its test debut.
"To be honest, that wasn't a pitch," Singh, a veteran of 103 tests, said of the surface used for the series opener.
"Test cricket should last five days. You cannot play on such wickets where anyone runs in to bowl and takes wickets. I have played in over 100 tests, and I know how hard I had to work to earn every single wicket."
All O'Keefe had to do was to bowl faster through air and be accurate, Singh said.
"You don't need to flight the ball or anything. You just need to bowl fast and not give the batsmen room to either come down the track, or be able to manoeuvre the ball around.
"Bowling six deliveries in the same spot is all you need to get wickets on such tracks," he added.
Former coach Ravi Shastri also felt O'Keefe was richly rewarded for his accuracy against the leaden-footed Indian batsmen.
"Steve O'Keefe was controlled and accurate while his preys looked for spin which wasn't always there," the former test batsman wrote in a column that appeared in Monday's Times of India newspaper.
"They invariably ended up playing wrong lines. They didn't use their feet much either ... It's an issue which can't be left pending even on fair tracks as even they would scruff up in second innings.
"Indians must find a way to break O'Keefe's rhythm," added Shastri.
From Supersport.com
Haha, but if Ashwin does it, he's a genius. Sit down Harbhajan! India made their bed, now they have to sleep in it.