Gautam Gambhir potentially a better test cricket captain than MS Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni or MSD in short continues to remain the captain of Inidian Cricket team even though he has the shameless away record among all the Indian captains thus far. The 8-0 away series drubbing where India lost to mediocre England and bore Cricket Australia's team in past couple of years has had no affect on MS Dhoni's captaincy as he continues to remain the most tactless captain ever. Under him India is likely to loose all the away matches this year as well. This will not be because of lack of quality players under him but because of his inability to use what he has got.

Gautam Gambhir - A Perfect Captain

MS Dhoni continuation as captain of India despite head shaker losses raises a question of two about the availability of resources for captaincy of India. Does India lack players who can lead the national team? After thinking about it - answer is comprehensive 'NO'. Far from it - India has many potentially great captains waiting to get an opportunity to serve the nation. Gautam Gambhir is the front runner in the race. The way he has been able to lift the morale of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL 7 after a horrible start to the league is a prime example of his leadership qualities. Some of the international great players like AB De Villers have openly said in press that Gautam Gambhir has a potential to become the great captain. Jaques Kallis, now retired from test cricket, also shares the same view. Only problem with Gautam Gambhir is his own form which is not enabling him to get into the first eleven and hence the captaincy looks far away thing to be had.

Form is not the only thing that denies players to get their true position in Indian cricket, there is politics too. Everyone knows the backing MS Dhoni get from selectors, although Mohinder Amarnath was exception and he had to paid the price for raising voice against MS Dhoni, and has done quite well in limited over cricket. This is another problem in Indian Cricket. If you do some thing well in ODI and T 20 cricket you are considered good for test cricket as well. This is especially true if your godfathers are in cricket commentary who are also the former greats. You might be wondering what commentators has to do with who gets the captaincy or not? It matters a lot in Indian cricket. If a 'kar' and 'tri' says good things about you - no one can replace you from captaincy position. On the other hand if 'kar' and 'tri' don't like you - you won't be in a team no matter however good your performance has been. Then there is 'ogle' as well - master of creating the environment in favor and in against (mostly against) the player. Ask Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli, and Ishant Sharma, if you don't know what I am saying, how the comments from Mr. Ogle has made their cricketing career a hell at various times.

They say that all salute the shining sun. MS Dhoni is a shining sun even though he is not the best captain for India at the test cricket level. Bad luck is that he has age and so many other factors backing him. This means that the most deserving players who can captain India, especially Gautam Gambhir, will continue to be kept denied the opportunity captain the Indian Cricket team. India is most likely to suffer another whitewash by the hands of England in the upcoming test series this summer. MS Dhoni might win the IPL 7 for CSK Chennai Super Kings but he will struggle to win a test match series for India, for sure.

Bumpy Roads Ahead of South Africa Cricket

There is no doubt that if you ask who has been the most consistent cricket team in test cricket during last decade or so, the answer would be comprehensively South Africa Cricket team. The ride for South Africa cricket has been quite smooth thus far. But with retirements of likes of Jaques Kallis, Graeme Smith and with Dale Steyn getting old by the day the South African Cricket team's caravan is likely to find a bumpy road and ride could be quite uncomfortable in coming days.

Even after the recent loss to Australia at home 2-1 in test series South Africa maintain the ICC ranking of number 1 in test cricket. This is an indicator of how consistent they have been in the past. A loss here and there doesn't make different to them as far as ranking of teams in concerned in test cricket. But this could be something that has happened in past and something that might not happen in future. The current crop of South Africa cricketers don't look equipped enough with skills to resurrect their team from such deadly losses.

South Africa will undoubtedly be knocked from their number one ranking - no cricket fan or pundit has an issue with that - that's sport. All teams rise and fall. WI (West Indies) dominated the cricketing world for a while but haven't been there for decades now, Australia dominated for a while but haven't been there for many years now. SA have enjoyed a good patch over the last few years but will also be taken over by another team sometime. At the end of the day the rankings are nice and do show who is playing the most consistent cricket but as long as teams are playing good competitive cricket then fans are happy, especially if team is around the top 3 or 4 in ICC rankings. Does this loss against AUS mean that AUS are now the best team in the world? Of course not - SA are still the best shown objectively by the rankings system. Aus were beaten every now and then during their reign as number one but that didn't mean they weren't still the best team in the world at the time. Aus still have to win many more games before they can claim the number one status again. Same can be said about India, who also won more than they lost when they achieved the no. 1 ranking in cricket.

Great or not, SA played good test cricket for a while. They were the closest to a champion team in all conditions though they failed to beat India in India. But then again, not many teams beat India in India which is why England's feat in 2012 was remarkable. South Africa have some decent players left in the tank but they are ageing. Dale Steyn will only get slower and older, AB De Villiers is already at his peak, Hashim Amla isn't the force he was 2 years back. Then you have guys like JP Duminy and Faf Du Plesis who are relatively inconsistent at test level. Finally, there are youngsters like Elgar and Quinton De Kock who are untested in different conditions. Add to that, SA still don't have a quality spinner. So it will be tough for SA to replicate their successes of the past 4 years. They will still be a good team at home but one is not so sure about their overseas chances.

May be this is the opportunity for South Africa to concentrate on ODI cricket more, than the other forms of cricket. South African cabinet is pretty bare when it comes to collection of  ICC trophies. Despite having a good set of players they have never threatened to win a world cup. ICC cricket would cup 2015 will be great opportunity for the rainbow nation to win the cup if they concentrate and plan towards it from now on.

Recently the South African colts won the ICC U-19 (under nineteen) world cup. Now, with their test cricket going down, South Africa has perfect chance to make forward moves as far as limited overs cricket is concerned. A twenty twenty (t20) world cup in Bangladesh will provide the latest chance tow in a world cup for South Africa. The present set of players in South Africa team also look to be more suited to shorter form of cricket rather than test cricket. May be we will see them winning couple of world cups over the next year or so.

The biggest problem CSA(Cricket South Africa) is facing immediately is to declare a captain for the cricket team. AB De Villiers looks to be the likely cricketer who will take over the reins of South African cricket team captaincy now that Graeme Smith is retired. But this move could be counterproductive as De Villiers is the best batsmen in South Africa cricket eleven and load of captaincy on his shoulders might wear him down quicker than what CSA wants at the moment.

Although the article might seem a bit negative but I will end it on a positive note. Change is inevitable and South Africa should embrace it as they have a core of top quality players to take them into a confident and successful new era. They need to look forward, not mope around lamenting recent retirements and searching for non-existent world-class all-rounders. Six batsmen, a wicketkeeper batsman, a bowling all-rounder and three fast bowlers. Don't believe that a side of Hashim Amla (capt), Elgar, van Zyl, de Villiers, du Plessis, Duminy, de Kock (w/k), Philander, Abbott/Hendricks, Steyn and Morkel will be any weaker than the sides SA fielded over the past 18 months. In fact, given the performances of the retired trio in their twilight years,one can say that 'new model' is a better one than old one.

AB De Villiers, the most enjoyable batsmen in cricket to watch

On 2nd day of 2nd test match at Port Elizabeth played between South Africa and Australia, middle order batsmen AB De Villiers struck 19th test century of his test career. He scored 116 runs on a slow and flat wicket and along with JP Duminy(123) helped put South Africa in a strong position at the end of the second day.

Abraham Benjamin De Villiers is on the track to greatness,
he is enjoyable to watch too, both with bat and ball,
and field, and wicket keep and , it goes on...

When we talk about AB de Villiers,  we talk about straight drives, perfectly played cuts and pull shots, and some shots that belongs to him only - like 'reverse six'. He is easily the best batsmen in the world today. But he also has the ability to put all those shots in the locker and play a really tough, but secure, knock when his team and pitch conditions demand it.

He is currently ranked number 1 batsmen in official players rankings in both ODIs and Test cricket.

Ab De Villiers batting record (till today)

Abraham Benjamin de Villiers is nothing short of world class going on to carve a legend for himself.  Cricket South Africa tells us more about this wonderful batsmen -

"AB De Villiers gave an early indication of his versatility in his debut season against England in 2004/05 when he opened the batting, was used in the middle-order and also kept wicket. In addition, it soon became evident that he was going to become the natural successor to Herschelle Gibbs as the Proteas’ best fielder.

In the same series he made his maiden Test century at SuperSport Park and quickly established himself as one of the most aggressive and entertaining players in world cricket.

He made key centuries in the Proteas’ away Test series victories in England and Australia in 2008. Earlier in that year he had become the first South African to score a Test double century against India."  - excerpt from Cricket South Africa official website

He is batsmen for all seasons and all formats. The best thing is that he is entertaining at all times. You will never get bored of watching him in the cricket field. Whether it's IPL t-20, test match cricket, or ODI cricket, AB De Villiers is always seen playing the most defining innings of the match. This guy can turn cricket matches on his head, in matter of minutes.

His stroke play is of highest quality. You'll rarely see a mistimed shot or the one that is out of control of AB's bat. He will score runs against the best bowlers in the world and in ALL conditions - that's the only criteria to determine the best.

Ab De Villiers is the greatest cricketer of the last decade. A fantastic batsman, a mind-blowing fielder, who also keeps wicket!!! He has also scored runs in all parts of the world against all attacks. Plus his innovations. Plus he has added the much needed "flair" factor to the South African line up, along with Hashim Amla,who till now whether bowling or batting were considered a boring side ( not in a derogatory manner- but no one can deny the fact that the SA team does not create the same kind of buzz as even a Aussie or an Indian team because of the rather sober "method" cricket of all its players).

Some facts about AB De Villers, apart from cricket:

• He was shortlisted for national hockey and football squads of South Africa.
• Captain of SA junior rugby team.
• Is still the holder of 6 SA school swimming records.
• The fastest 100 meter time in SA juniors.
• A member of SA junior Davis Cup team.
• the national badminton U-19 champion.
• Received a national medal from Nelson Mandela for a science project.
• Has a golf handicap of scratch.

Back to cricket: 

De Villiers has scored 1361 runs at 80.05 including six hundreds and six fifties in his last 12 Tests, since November 2012. He also now holds the record for scoring 50 or more runs in 12 consecutive test matches. De Villiers's form is threatening for other teams, especially with the World Cup and TwentyTwenty World Cup coming up.

Seems unlikely to me that De Villiers was chastised & mocked unless this article was run a good 5+ years ago 'cos it's clear to see he's the most amazing batsman in the world & he's finally doing his talent justice. The wicket keeping seemed to slow him down but since his 169 in Perth he has been truly phenomenal & has taken everything in his stride. Wanna see him in the field too though.

Boring Slow Pitch Robs fans 2nd Test, South Africa v Australia, Port Elizabeth

South Africa limped to 214-5 at the end of first day's play of test match between South Africa and Australia. at Port Elizabeth. It was a day which every cricket fan wished never came in their life. The pitch was a real villain.

For a series that was seen as a platform to find out who is the best fast bowling attack in the world, between Australia and South Africa, the cricket pitch dished out by the curator was a big disappointment. It was painfully slow. Even Mitchell Johnson looked as slow as Vernon Philander. The ball barely bounced higher than the waist and shots were difficult to time for the batsmen.

May be it was a well thought tactic from South African team management. The inability the host batsmen showed in first test against short pitch bowling of Australia seems to have sent message to pitch curator "We want low and slow wicket. Mitch is too hot to handle!" But looking at how match stands at the end of first day's play, the pitch hasn't quite helped South Africa's cause. Instead it is Australia who seems to have a upper hand in match, even though fast and furious Mitchell Johnson has managed on 1 wicket (Hashim Amla) thus far.

AB De Villiers and Deal Elgar played well for South Africa and gave the scoreboard some good look. The scorecard at stumps on day 1 looked like this :

Cricket Score Card, Australia vs South Africa, 2nd test Day 1 Stumps

Dean Elgar played well, mostly defensively against seam bowlers and occasionally attacking to spinner Nathan Lyon, for 83. AB de Villers, batting on 51 not out, continued his good form with fine half century creating a new world record of scoring half centuries in 12 consecutive test matches. He shared the record with Viv Richards, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir before this fifty.

Nathan Lyon talked about the pitch and what he makes of the day's play. He said that they knew this would be a very difficult pitch to bowl on, and he is happy with the control they have maintained, and stoked that they got those two bonus wickets when they were waiting for the new ball.

It was a hard fought day of cricket on a disappointing spirit sapping pitch. Australia will be feeling better about today, but you mustn't forget that AB de Villiers is still out there.

Pitch  gave South African cricket fans to make a shout "Mitch who? So much for the over-hyped Australian bowling attack. On a green, seaming pitch with overcast conditions they have hardly made a dent. SA march on and get stronger by the hour. What was really disappointing was watching Lyon bowling around the wicket, targeting leg stump and on the pads - so negative, very un-Australian. Couldn't help noticing Harris leaving the field with a tweak and Smith was right Centurion totally suited Johnson, but maybe he can get some more tail-ender wickets here yet. Mind you both are in the their mid thirties now anyway and injuries are part of that age category," said McKenjie.

But Am I hearing complains about the pitch from Australians. So all the Aussies, complaining about the pitch. Are you saying that your Mitch is just a one-type-of-pitch-wonder, and cannot perform consistently across all sorts of pitches? Unlike Dale Steyn, who has great figures over a protracted period of time, even on the subcontinental road pitches? He did not even look remotely threatening for frightening today, even the raw and inexperienced Elgar played him out without giving any chances.

In reality test match still in the balance here, but it seems to be a peculiarly flat and lifeless wicket. I wonder why? :-) How things have changed! I'm sure the SA quicks will not be looking forward to bowling here, and if Philander is carrying any injury it could be a real issue, because SA only have four bowlers (unless I'm missing someone). Still, if they get 300+ it is still runs on the board that AUS have to get. Lehman says the pitch is pretty good with plenty of grass but very dry underneath. That means it should spin later on, but probably won't break up too much. But do SA have a spinner who can take advantage of bowling last?

Can South Africa batsmen overcome Mitchell Johnson's fear

South Africa has comprehensively lost first test match against Australia in 2014 test series. The chief destroyer of South Africa was Mitchell Johnson, the man who is racking havoc in minds and hearts of opposition batsmen with shear pace and intensity of his bowling. The newly grown big moustache has certainly converted him into an angry young man and he is in no mood to take the paddle off. Given how he ran through England's batting line up and left them battered and bruised at the end of Ashes series, the South African batsmen will be really nervous facing him.

Graeme Smith, needs to do more than just
speaking positive things. He need to lead from the front
for South Africa and counter attack Mitchell Johnson

But South Africa has to stand up and show the world that their batsmen have the technique and temperament to face Mitchell Johnson. Not only face him but that they can dominate him. This is because domination will be required for South Africa to come back in 3 match test series. South Africa will surely don't want to loose to the team who is seen as undisputed champions of cricket, whatever the ICC ranking may be.

But who can do it for South Africa cricket? Which batsmen have the guts to stand up to the pace battery of Australia. This is not an Indian bowling attack, with no teeth, that even a mouse can dare to walk the talk. Proper technique, guts, determination, guards of all sorts, and something more is needed to save the face.

Certain scars will definitely not heal quickly. Before i start my point, i am not suggesting South Africa drop Smith, but if this was a 5 test, or back to back series, and he continued to fail against one bowler, MJ, at what point do you decide yes normally he is worth his place, but not against this bloke? Was Atherton worth his place against McGrath? Cullinan against Warne? Dennis Amiss went from a record breaking year to being dropped because of Lillee! Nobody would have argued that he wasn't England's best batsman at the time, but we acknowledged he wasn't even worth his place if Dennis was bowling! Bowlers get changed for horses for courses conditions, but do selectors often enough decide that we know batsman is one of our best, but he is a walking wicket against him? Again, this is a general point rather than one aimed at Smith, a South African great.
After the retirement of  one of the great cricketers'in Jaques Kallis, the South African cricket team is not looking quite strong. Alviro Petersen, GraemeSmith don't look like solid openers against a incisive bowling attack. Hashim Amla is out of form at wrong time. Only AB de Villiers won't be able to save south africa from shame.

May be south africa can unearth a fast bowler as intimidating as Mitchell Johnson and give Aussies something to fear about. But Aussies are like mad kangaroos at the moment and look ready to dethrone even the African lion in its own territory.

The talks of Morne vs Johnson, for a long time Morne Morkel has always had the ability to bounce batsmen at good pace but is so stuck in a rythme of line and length that he cannot be hostile, add to his temperament as being somewhat gentlemanly its not in his make up, the last factor is he is a traditional over the top fast bowler. Johnson is a lot like Akhtar just not as devastating, Shoaib in his pomp was up to mid 150's and had the inswinging yorker that blew away Langer, Hayden, Pontings et al in the great Australian years. Akhtar was feared because he doesn't have control and Johnson brings that back, the element of getting hit.

Dale Steyn is not to blame other than if they knew he was injured and ill he should not have played.
The approach against short-pitch ball is NOT "Get the heck out of the way as soon as you see where it is about to pitch". It is "Get a 1st view of the height the ball is about to take and THEN Get the heck out of the way". There is NO EXTRA REWARD for getting out of the way EARLIER than NECESSARY. All these hits to the helmet and dangerous areas of the body are always because of that.

I see too often batsmen try to SHOW OFF how good they are against bouncers by taking evasive action way too soon - as if to ANNOY the bowler that they are very good against bouncers and SAW it WAY too EARLY - as if trying to tell the bowler "Bowling bouncers to them is useless". Not a good strategy.

For bowlers around the world who feel left out and down by all this "This is Johnson's World and We are Living in it hoopla" - I have suggestion for you. COPY, COPY, COPY - Copy his STEELY BICEPS and FOREARM. Has anybody seen any FAT CELL in them ? Not me.

By the way, are those TATOOS on his RIGHT hand distracting to the batsmen and should be banned ? Just a thought.

I thought - except Petersen, De Villiers, and Faf du Plessis - everybody else got themselves out in the 1st innings. Getting out of harms way of a bouncer is also a valid strategy - instead of always hoping to attack it. SA was probably thinking they were still playing against India. 

As an SA fan, firstly congrats to Aus. Johnson was truly awesome, operating at a level few have reached in the history of the game. Not great to see SA get destroyed but as a cricket lover it's good to see real pace as it's so rare. Good to see Marsh getting runs too.

From an SA perspective my heart sank as soon as I saw McLaren and Peterson in the team. Bits and pieces players. Peterson's 'spin' is no better than Duminy's in SA so replace him with a batsman like Van Zyl or Elgar. Philander is a containing bowler once the ball is old so the 4th seamer needs to be Parnell, Abbott or Beuran Hendricks, maybe De Lange in the longer term.

But it's also clear that this team is coming to the end of it's cycle. Kallis gone, Smith near the end, Steyn has more niggles and can't ramp it up as often as 5 years ago. Young talent needs to be brought in soon to rebuild.

But whatever we do, if Johnson bowls like that again, particularly if the pitches have variable bounce, then Aus will win 3-0.

Mitchell Johnson make South Africa batsmen dance on his tune - South Africa vs Australia Day 2 scorecard centurion test

Mitchell Johnson continued to expose the overrated opponent batsmen, who are supposed to have good technique against pace and bounce, with his hostile spell of 4 wickets for 52 runs at centurion on day 2 of first test match between Australia and South Africa.

fired-up mitchell johnson bullied south africa

The scorecard at the stumps on day 2 read South Africa 140/6 in their first innings. Earlier Australia were bowled out for 397 runs in their first innings with dale steyn claiming 4 wickets for 78 runs. The detailed scorecard looked like this at the end of second day:

Australia vs South Africa scorecard, centurion test 2014, day 2 stumps

South African batsmen never looked settled against constant short pitch bowling from Mitchell Johson. Graeme Smith, in particular, looked like a sitting duck with both legs tied together when facing bowling of Australia. His misery ended when he got out awkwardly fending off a bouncer directed in rib cage by johnson in his first spell. Petersen was next to go playing bad shot to get out. Hashim Amla continued his poor form with bat and was again got out at low score after scoring series of low scores in last series against India. Short ball again claimed Faf du Plesis as he chose to sit in comfort of dressing room rather than guts it out in the middle. Duminy threw his wicket away against a spin of Nathan Lyon. At the end of second day AB de Villiers was on the crease batting not out on 52 along with Robin Peterson batting at 10.

Overall it was australia's day and cricket fans had much to say.

steve48 says: "The way he bowls at the tail, MJ on fir an 8 for! I am a proud Pom, but have followed this guy since Dennis Lillee made his prediction; having read 'The Art of Fast Bowling ' as a kid, and watched him terrorise my then hero Dennis Amiss, I figured he knew what he was on about! Always suspected he would eventually ram our taunts down our throats, cos when he gets it right, no batsman seems safe, of body or stumps! No offence to South Africa, but nice to see its not just us English who struggle with his pace, aggression and angle. Can't have been a quicker left armer, with all due respect to wasim akram, the most skilled quick I think I have seen. So much on DeVilliers now, then if Steyn is fit and firing, could be a few twists left in this game. But ABD really needs to protect that tail. MJ made Swann and Broad look like Phil Tufnell!"

Paul-Rone Clarke says: "Some small vindication from those who asserted that wasn't just England being really poor that cost them the ashes The MJ factor played a big part.
Smith and Marsh batted well, but the extra 5kmph that MJ gets above Steyn or Morkel pushes the comfort envelope of all but the most extremely good of batsmen. Small margins make big differences in cricket.

How many people were amazed when the radar gun first began to find that a spinner bowls at 60%+ the speed of a seamer? Warne bowls 60 McGrath bowled 84 - you'd swear the ratio must be far higher than that. So it is with the extra pace MJ brings. 4 mph might as well be all the difference in the world. He looks so much more threatening than Steyn or Morkel you'd think they were playing on different pitches
For SA DeVilliers is a class apart - - and the Saffers best hope of salvaging something from a series that already looks to be heading the Aussies way" 

BradmanBestEver says: "McDermott should be applauded for his bold, accurate statement that MJ is the best fast bowler in the world today. Today's performance by MJ as compared to Steyn's over the past 2 days, coupled with MJ's destruction of England over 5 tests proves McDermott is correct. Lillee's statement that MJ is a "one-in-a-generation" bowler has also been proven. At 32 how long can MJ's dominance last?if only we had another MJ."

captain tuk tuk who lives in pakistan has become an aussie fan "I live in Pakistan but I an an Ausis fan now because I am a true cricket fan. Ausis did really well Micheal Johnson just as expected by us Ausis fans did a great job but we must give credit to DeVillars who is playing really well against the most fearsome attack in these conditions I doubt the trio of Styen, Philander and Morkel is as good as Johnson, Haris and Siddle in these conditions well played AB."

Predictably there are heaps of praise showering on Mitchell Johnson, and he deserves it as well, as Cricket Australia continue to surge towards becoming the number 1 test side in ICC rankings, once again.