India v South Africa, 2nd Test, Ahmedabad, 3rd day

Daryll Cullinan: 'One of South Africa's greatest wins'

April 5, 2008

Daryll Cullinan analyses South Africa's emphatic victory over India in the Ahmedabad Test and says that while South Africa outclassed India in all departments of the game, India will have to show much more intent and commitment if they are to make a comeback in the Kanpur Test

 Read Comments (7)

Comments Top ^

Comments have now been closed for this article IPL will ruin Indian Cricket. The Indian Cricketers are getting distracted by money, and Twenty 2o is making them play Test Matches as if they had to be finished in 20 overs. Rahul Dravid,Saurav Ganguly,VVS Laxman,Sachin Tendulkar are patient cricketers,who know what endurance is.Not the likes of Dhoni,Sehwag,Jaffer,or any of the new breed. There is no way India can come close to South Africa and England in Test cricket - home AND away;so effectively fourth-- if they can beat Pakistan and Sri Lanka and West indies. Humility is a virtue. Indians don't have it. The WACA pitch was NOT the usual bouncy pitch --so India won against Australia.It is clearly proven --after Nagpur against Australia, and Ahmedabad against South Africa,that Indians can be tigers only in mild condtions favouring spin.Harbhajan said so too. Posted by popcorn on April 06 2008, 10:11 AM GMT Yes, this is a very bad loss for India and all heartiest congratulation goes to South Africa. They really showed why they are no. two team both the form of cricket. I think Tendulkar absence is not much bother India, the main problem was the absence of new sensation Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan. R.P Singh and Sreesanth are not like Zaheer and Ishant. I also thimk opener Jafar should dropped where a player like Goutam Gambhir are waiting to have a chance. He will be the next super star batsman of Indian cricket team. Now it is quiet impossible for India to level the series but let see what happen. Posted by mushfiq on April 06 2008, 07:47 AM GMT What a great win for SA.They were the better team.I think they have a well balanced team.Great to see the top six getting runs.I'm worried a bit about Prince,maybe JP should be given the nod for the third test,seeing that Prince has not had a good knock in a while.JP also gives us another spin option.There bowling attack is great,Steyn is just getting better,Ntini is back to his best & Morkel is getting better each day.We do have Zondeki still on the bench whichis great.I'm worried about our spin depth,Peterson has put in a couple of good performances lately but i am still not convinced as i think he will struggle against the bigger teams.India needs to get rid of Jaffer & RP that are out of sorts,Gambir and Sharma should come in.India needs to get a fielding coach as they loose a lot of runs in this area.Kumble is too predictable and poses no threat.I think Doni should take over the captaincy and that will make way for a more attacking bowler.Well done SA,but watch out for India!! Posted by Chrissy1 on April 06 2008, 07:40 AM GMT I think that we should not write off India after this debacle.They were without their best batsman Sachin Tendulkar.He has a great record in Ahemdabad.India missed him very much.Wasim Jaffer should be dropped for the next test match.India need to bring Gautam Gambhir back into the test side.He should be given an extended run in the team.RP Singh should also be dropped as he is lacking match practice and is woeffully out of form.They should bring in Piyush Chawla as India's strength is spin bowling.I think South Africa is going to have a hard time in the next test match as the Indian team is surely going to bounce backafter the pounding they got from South Africa in this test match. Posted by Neeta on April 06 2008, 05:45 AM GMT South Africa might just win the series. They have shown without doubt that they are the better team. They've held out in this Test, and in the last Test, after the flogging by Sehwag, they still had the nerve to force a draw. The third Test should be one to cherish, if the action follows the way it has. India under-performed. Sehwag has been spoken off as a great, but showed us that even with two triple hundreds, he can never be compared to Sachin, Lara, Ponting, and Kallis. It's about time the batting looks beyond Sachin and the other 'big' guys - they're going to be gone in the next year or two. It's vital for India to look towards the future. Whatever happened to Dinesh Karthik or Parthiv Patel? These guys should make the step up. Posted by ashwin_547 on April 05 2008, 18:47 PM GMT Well, emphatic it was. But let us not forget the time South Africa were bundled out for 86 at The Wanderers last year by India, and inspite of that, they clinched the series. The conditions favoured South Africans more. India struggled without Zaheer and Ishant - who, with their swing and pace, would surely have made an impact. The problem was the bowling; which was one-dimensional. Nowadays, no team plays well in conditions which don't suit them. The pitch took everyone by surprise and by the time India realised, it was too late. The pitch eased out a bit in the afternoon of the first day and by the second morning, Kallis and de Villiers were set. However, India gave a good account of themselves today, and South Africa were very mean in the field. Well done, South Africa. However, it would be interesting to see how they would have handled the situation if they were put into to bat first in the deadly conditions in the first morning. Posted by BHARATLIFE on April 05 2008, 16:30 PM GMT It is surely one of the greatest victories by a visiting team on Indian soil. South Africa outplayed India in all three departments. Paying due credit to South Africa, I would say that India came up with an under-par performance. They were just mere shadows of the players who challenged Australia in their own den. The inconsistency and unpredictability of Indian cricket has once again been displayed. India will have to come up with a definite game plan, and maintain a focussed attitude if they want to win in Kanpur Posted by tarun on April 05 2008, 15:43 PM GMT Top ^