Kanpur falls short of meeting ICC stipulations
Most heavy defeats result in feelings of great disappointment and misery but India's victory in Kanpur left us feeling only the disappointment, not the misery. There is too much for us to feel proud about over a long and relentless season and, besides, India outplayed us in extreme conditions and deserved their win.
South Africa have played 12 Test matches since October and have won eight of them. We have also won 16 out of 19 one-day matches and six out of eight Twenty20s. There is no disgrace in being beaten by India in our final match of the season.
Actually, it was a fabulous Test series with some outstanding cricket played by both sides. Although the pitch in Chennai was never going to produce a result, none of us will ever forget Viru's triple-century. Ahmedabad provided the best pitch (excuse my bias!) and I believe we produced one of South Africa's best Test performances since our return to international cricket.
As I said before the third Test, India gambled on the pitch and it worked for them. It was an extreme gamble which could easily have backfired and cost them their world ranking as number two behind Australia. But you have to admire a sportsman who is prepared to lose in order to win.
Clearly, after their Ahmedabad humiliation, India were never going to condone another 'good' pitch in Kanpur and it made sense to have a dry and cracked one in order to give Harbhajan as much assistance as possible. We had no complaints before the match and we have none after. I just wish we had managed another 50 runs in our first innings because then we might have had a great finish.
We leave India with many happy thoughts and memories. Neil McKenzie and Hashim Amla have given the top order a feel of great stability while AB de Villiers has turned the corner and can now combine his dashing brilliance to reliable 'fighter' when we need him.
On the slightly less positive side was the venue. It is a shame that South Africa keep being scheduled to play in Kanpur. There are a number of ICC stipulations that apply to Test match venues and I'm afraid Kanpur falls short of meeting them.
When India travel to South Africa we regard the tourists as world leaders and deserving of the best we can offer. India always play at out best venues and nothing in the way of hospitality is spared. I have no desire to criticise the city, but it became very obvious to me that nobody seems to enjoy coming here – not the Indian team, the local media or anybody from the BCCI.
The life of a professional cricketer may appear to be a glamorous one, but it often requires nine months away from home in many years. It is essential to be able to 'move about' and 'get away' from your hotel room. That doesn't seem possible in Kanpur, never mind the practice and player facilities at the ground. I apologise sincerely if this offends Kanpurites, but I'm afraid this is amongst the least popular venues in international cricket.
But it was a thrilling Test match! (Gameplan)
Total Comments: 31
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Posted : By sibi
posted;sibi mike procter coach of the south african cricket team has no right to comment on the pitches.In newzealand the ball seams, in aus there is bounce,in eng there is swing and in india the ball spins,keeps low.so the foreign team should adopt to the condition.when aus toured india they were able win matches even though the pitches were low and since they are able to adopt to different condions they are the no.1 team.so the south african team should shout up their mouth and move forward and they can''t expect durban or wanderes wickets everywere in the world.if south africa are a good team then they should thrash aus in aus comprehensively which i don''t think its going to happen also remember aus thrashed sa in their last test series in sa after the narrow odi series loss.
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Posted : By Anand Madanapalle
Look... in New Zealand, there is bouonce and swing. In australia, there is seam and bounce. In England, there is swing and seam and in South Africa, there is bounce and seam. And in India, there is spin and low bounce. Where is the problem? We need different wickets all over the world and India provides a certain type of wickets. Too bad Mickey... a good loser blames himself and not the elements.
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Posted : By Daryl
Funny comments by Rajesh and harish. Did you even read the article?
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Posted : By Balonchobal Haridas Paul
Prabhuji :You''ve said it perfectly well. You''ve an excellent team ( not balanced though, need some good spinners).Then why do you gripe man? Is it because your "THREAT--PACE DEMONS" failed ?What a pity Micky. Please wipe your "tears",call up Greg Chappell, KironMore,and few others and LOOK FOR "BACK STABBING" tricks. Hope that helps.
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Posted : By Chaminda Perera
Mickey has found Ahmedabad ''the best''. The good reason is that his team won there. They bundled out for 76 in the first outing.No doubt, the pictch was fault less !!!Now come to Kanpur....South Aficans were outplayed. They were skittled out for 121 in their second innings.HERE THE PICTCH IS BAD !, Say the wise men from the African continent.All is well when one wins...otherwise it is helll ! Certainly it is hypocracy, well proved by the Proteas!has sugar coated his hatred
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