its 10:27 and pouring with rain about 10kms from Newlands.

Choke First ? - India has already choked yesterday afternoon session when Sachin & Dravid were batting . If by miracle India wins this test( which they don't desrve really ) it will be only because of some blunders from SA batsmen. Honestly you don't expect that to happen frequently ( after 1st test)from professional teams like SA.

kumble will wreck the boks as the south africans seem to have lost their hard edge

India should operate spin from both ends to dominate the game and look for a chance to win.
Tendulkar has disapointed with the bat he should be given more of the ball to bowl and he will bring glory.

Woteva the result will be.....Indian cricket team shd be restructured

Sachin & Dravid are the main culprits of this match. If Dinesh Kartik can play shots why big guns cannot fire. May be dinesh Kartik is new and has no bank balance and ads.
Bhaji should have playwed in this match instead of Sehwag.

It definitely will depend upon the pitch...and how it plays up...given that the conditions are overcast, if kumble and tendulkar (and maybe sehwag) could put the ball at the right spots, definite possibility of a turn around...
but who knows, india is capable of letting SA win even by SA's last wickets playing well........

Frankly I want the Indian team to choke, else the second test, their humble submission in the one day serious, and the dismal second innings performance of the stalwarts will all be forgotten in the merrymaking.. The post mortem should happen.

Ganguly has not made any big splash on his return. He gets his 30-40 runs and manages to maintain his place in the team, just as he did as captain. No match winner, did not impress as a bowler either.

SA has shown positive attitude to win this test match. India never looked positive. Yesterday, They seems to be playing for time. But they couldn't do that also and have already messed up everything. They don't deserve to win.

It is hard to imagine SA emulating India. Smith looks determined and SA look positive. Is the weather going to be a factor?

yesterday someone commented that everyone should be padded up when Sehwag opens the innings. Good advice! Also every opposition fielder should get a refreshing nap on the field when Sachin comes to bat. No chance of any shot coming from the batting crease.

Indian Players should learn to play, not acting.Otherwise build a new team to win the maches and send all the players to hollywood to act.

Indian lost out in the 1st innings itself , should have put up in excess of 600 runs. What is Sehwag doing in the Indian Team , Harbhajan will be missed sorely. Indian Team has too many heavy weights who are acting as sinkers , Team needs more Srisanth type of young lads with fire in belly

It is a brilliant move by south africa to send shaun pollock out, Pollock scores fast (if he scores) and before you know the game can be well and truly away from India. It will be too late for a SA collapse to happen if he hangs around....

Where is the economical bowler Munaf ? Why is he not given ball. Or does india want to loose early ?

If these fatted cows were literally axed overnight like the Aussies do here.....there would be a better shaped Indian team.
Now imagine even if half the money they spend on these "cricket cows" was spent on Soccer (try hiring Gus Hiddink as Coach).....India could be at the World cup in 2010 in South Africa hehe. Sadly the poor folk of India have no choice what else is there to cheer other than the shambolic over fatted losers of cricket? Even Kabbaddi being taken over by Bangladeshi hahaha! Guess what - even the athletics medals are being stripped for feilding Eunuchs! Did I hear someone say marbles is being considered or perhaps replace Tendulkar with a Eunuch....great might scare away the opposition or get them to die laughing???

For God's sake drop Sehwag from both forms of the game for the time being and let Karthik play as a specialist opener in tests. In one dayers go back to Sachin-Sourav.

It is truly disturbing to see how bad of a captain rahul dravid is. He should be kicked out of his role. Sigh !!

India are going to lose. Whilst they have improved in some ways over the years, they don't have the cutting edge. The players are too pre-occupied with making money and don't value their cap too much.

They lost it in the first innings when they had a chance to score at least 500.

Where is the gully for Kumble? Where is twin spin attack? I think the donuts are still stuck in Dravid's throat.

Krish

Indians are taking everything for granted... On a question to Ganguly why he came in up the order... he replied Sachin wasnt allowed to bat and VVS was showering..

Please keep giving us weather updates, Jamie!!

SOUTH AFRICA WILL WIN. INDIA IS DOWN & OUT

Nobody chokes worse than the Indian cricket team. Its yet another opportunity gone begging given that we were so close to winning a series abroad against the Boks just like we did against the mighty Aussies on their home turf.Leaves us fans thinkin of what would've been!!?
Great move by SA to bring Pollock in. With Kallis still waiting in the wings,its quite demolarising for India. If India were in the same situation,they'd huff n puff n made very heavy weather of the proceedings. So rest assured,this one's in the bank for the Boks

Wonder if RSA will speed up the R/R when they learn of the rain? Could give India a better chance considering they'll be playing some big shots.

I think the one turning point of the game was Tendulkar's awful stay at the wicket (as Sambit Bal's article rightly analysed). The commentators went on and on about perhaps a nagging injury. Does anyone know more about this? If he was not fully fit he should not have come into bat at all at that number. Is that the reason he is not bowling either yet?

Thoughts?

Only Rain can save India here

BRAD YOU ARE ABRAT & TOO OPTIMISTIC

There is only one team who has registered the copy right/patent for choking itself and that is "Paper Tigers Team-India"

Unfortunately South Africa are going to win easily

South Africans will win this. they have played a master stroke in introducing Pollock to the crease and holding back Kallis, Prince and Gibbs. No chance for India as Kumble lacks support at the other end; he can't take wickets and stop runs at the same time, just too much dependence on 1 man.

CRICINFO I THINK IS PRAYING FOR RAIN GODS TO DO SOME MAGIC

I am without anydoubt, the greatest fan of Indian Team in Pakistan, who watch all the match, who leaves my office and even my wife's hospital appointments just to see and make sure Tendulkar bat safely...but today I say to you all, I am retiring from Indian cricket fanship!!! I am very sorry,but these guys are become habitual to disappoint their fans. They will certaily lose, there is no doubt. I will urge Indian selectors to bring in young heros who go down fighting, and they should not continue with these spineless advertisement models who have lost manhood.

Yes, both teams have choked plenty of times in the past, but here I feel that India has choked out of the match. There is only a 1 in 10 chancce for them now - basically the glorious uncertainities of cricket.

Pullock and Smith are playing great, Only Rain can delay south african win

India has demonstrated in the past as the best choker especially in the crunch match.I do not expect anything better.They have already lost this match yesterday.Thanks to Dravid for relying too much on Shewag, an out of form opener and secondly pathetic display of batting like novice from Sachin,Laxman so called greats.I think it was a blunder in sending Shewag to open>Dinesh Kartick has proved this point.Even Sachin can also learn from this young NextGen how to play at such crucial phase of the decider test.

I can't imagine the outcomes are decided by umpires so frequently (Darrel Hair's episode and many

others). What a pathetic situation to be in when the whole world communicates, watches movies and surfs

internet on 3G mobile technology that the "gentle man's game" is still relying on such obvious and

utterly false judgements from two individuals who pass the test to be on the elite panel for

international games. Asad Rauf made three crucial mistakes, and now with 7th ball bowled in the last

over if india's innings (who know Karthik could have made a ton but for this mistake), the game is

becoming a liability and choking the fans all over. Can't the captain at least be given a chance to

protest to correct or take a second look at the replay or to count the balls ..... oh no, then it will

be against the archaic rules laid out for this gentleman's game by some oldies back in the days when

Christ wasn't even born. Cricket umpires are holy grail, no body can touch them. Computers and TV are

not supposed to replace the umpires... This is ICC's policy. This is sickening, really sickening. Just

see how professional other games are (basket ball, base ball, soccer, foot ball). No wonder Cricket

will never get outside of the limited realms of eight-so commonwealth countries. What a loss to the

wonderful fans of crickets all over the world. Please can some rich guy out there start a new franchise

for cricket (similar to NBA, NFL, MLB) with rules that matter and where fans can really enjoy cricket.

Come on, we all know India are the best chokers in the cricket world. See how fast we are giving runs away. It took the great Sachin Oldulkar to score 9 runs in 54 balls...we have given away 50 runs in 50 balls. Let us forget this match and appreciate the way SA has come back and now about to win this match.

India should stop playing cricket & play kabaddi as this is our national game & they might win i.e. if the referee is ours

Match will be over by LUNCH
My congrats to Smith and Co. for Victory and My Congrats to Dravid & Co. as well, for maintaining the tradition of 'choking' when it was required the most.Well done boyz..

Hey, although my entry has still not appeared on the blog (bring censored!!), i think i forgot to mention the other thing apart from Kumble which can save India. It's happening now. It's rain. Being an Indian supporter, i'd wish for a whole day downpour. I dont see SA tumbling after where they have reached now. And Kumble seems confused where to pitch the ball. May be he needs some hints from Harris!!??

Given the overcast conditions Dravid should have started with the fast bowling pair. Munaf would be ideal in these conditions. He is the one who could apply the brakes on as he bowls straight and can make use of any uneven bounce in the pitch. This would allow the ball to loose a bit of its shine and Kumble can than get a better grip over it. With the movement and pace of Munaf and Sreesanth there is a lot more chances of grabbing a couple of wickets and put SA under a bit of pressure and make them work harder to score runs.

The two most experienced cricketers in both the teams put together gave a fantastic display of "How to self destruct" and were ably supported by another experienced campaigner who gave a demo on how get run out by taking a second run when running the firsr one itself is an effort.
Long Live Indian Cricket.

India closed the fourth day on a Positive note by grabbing that wicket of Hashum Amla. India should hav started the day all Guns blazing. Under the given conditions they should hav given Munaf Patel the chance as it was a bit cloudy and a little breeze was also there which cld assist him, rather they went in with the same attack the had on close at the fourth day. I personally think that once again we have the sase where we can easily say that "Rain Saves The Day"

Horrified to see the way Tendulkar and Dravid batted in the second innings with run rate coming to zero just when some positive attitude was needed. We lost the match right there. Any luck with rain holding out for a couple of hours to soak the outfield :)

While it is evident that India's batting display left a lot to be desired, India can attribute the loss (if the game goes on) to the shocking umpiring decisions of the 4th day, i.e.:

1. The 4-minute fiasco that forced Sachin to come lower down the order.
2. The ball that went down leg side and got Sachin lbw nonetheless, thereby reducing another possible 30-40 runs.
3. Munaf Patel's wicket from the 7th ball (!!) of Dale Steyn's over. No no-balls/wides there. This meant Dinesh Karthik was robbed of a good opportunity to score another 15-20 runs.

The above decisions/gaffes have cost us at least 50-60 runs, the match, and hence the series. Anyway, I'm off to continue my rain dance till the evening....now where's my leafy skirt?

firstly, it is a bit difficult to understand the rational behind picking munaf patel. he looks completely out of sorts and seems to still be suffering from the injury. looking at him on tv makes me feel he is severly under-nourished -- the way he runs. fielding wise, it best left for all to see. he is not a decent batsman either. had vrv singh or harbhajan been picked by the selectors, the indian attack would have had some teeth.

secondly, with so much of analysis going on in today's cricket world (you just have to switch on your tv and you get so much analysis which looks pretty good to me -- do the cricketers not have a tv in the dressin room) did the indian team not know that this would be a good spinner's wicket. if yes, how come harbhajan was left our?

and finally, why was sehwag not dropped? he is not bowling and certainly not batting. why not give someone else a chance. frankly, viru is not showing any signs of responsibility. i am begining to realise his style is to hit every ball and if he does not get a edge, he is lucky. wats the point of playing test matches then? i though kaif would be better.

rain definitely has come to help india since it's a break in concentration for saf batsmen and for india to gather their thoughts of what they should be doing to keep saf batsmen under pressure. I hope for more and more rain so that india can successfully save these test.Munaf still not seen in attack and struggling in field. Its better not to drop pathan next time since he keeps proving again and again how good he is as an allrounder...

well i think india are just exibiting what they pose for the world cup as
empty threat with loads of potential to perform
but more to choke
miserably

Why is that when India plays, the rain or some other calamity we pray for their rescue. I am certain that this would be a passing shower and RSA would emerge as worthy winners. painful, it is, to see India struggle and the palyers have to be blamed. The way they batted yesterday, they deserve to loose.

If the match continues, surely its RSA thats going to win. All the good work of the yonger generation in the Indian team is going to be waste becoz of some casual cricket by the so called senior stars in the indian team. Apart from that, the umpiring is at his BEST in this series..!! REALLY... CONGRATS RSA... CONGRATS INDIA TOO.. After all, india were supposed to be loosing 0-3, that was the prediction before the test match starting... WELL DONE INDIA.. WE CAN ONLY DO THIS MUCH :)

India need to have patience and no aggression to be shown off. Srisanth should not be over enthusiastic. He should control his temper if he wants India to win from here on....

Rain is a welcome break for the Indians. Whole night they would discussed on how important is Kallis's wicket for India, as in these kind of situations he plays the anchoring role. Hence, Pollock walking out with Smith must have been a surprise for them and its pretty clear from the scores and the way India is bowling that they were not prepared for this. So, now they have chance to regroup and rethink their strategy. My prediction is that after the break Indians will come hard and will be more competitive. Its going to be a close match but I think South Africa will be eventually come out as the winner.

Reply to Chakravarthi's comments on Tendulkar: Maybe we should look at it this way..on the test level, Tendulkar was fallen way behind some of his peers like Ponting, Dravid, Lara, Youhana over the last 3-4 years and should maybe retire from Tests and should focus on getting his ODI records beyond anyone else's reach.

These is still time, Gus Hiddink is free after Euro 2008.....soccer anyone? Let the fat cows (oops super samples, let's not call them models shall we?) cricket choke on thier vomit....after only personal glory.

Boks have just started doing the halal process on these fat cows.....

Don't think rain can save em' this time, 100 runs is gettable (Kumble is no Warney, where does Chappathi compare to Steak in terms of nutrition?).

Hey I heard Tendulkar has a restaurant....maybe he can do the dishes with Sehwag and Co -wot say?

One of the few hiccups that hit me is,,, I beleive sachin is battling with his own self, he is pressurising himself by expecting too much from him, thats more known story i think,

but wat i dont get is Where is the professionalism in Indian cricket,, isnt any one of the senior players group, or the coach, ready to talk clearly with sachin abt his role in indian cricket,

If this continues what might be 2 more years of cricket for sachin may seem like jus 2 more months for him. I dont think any body in world cricket wants a great gun to leave silent...

I am terribly disappointed :(

First on Sachin: the team doesnot consists of only 1 man, the performance of 1 man effecting the morale and play of others itself describes his greatness and value for the team.

Not naming anyone (but still very obvious), the problem for India since long has been that people are not 100% committed in each and every match and only show their actual grit and skill in the following situation:
Not a regular/newcomer/ in bad form/ or wants a comeback in the team and wants to book his place for a major tournament/ series coming up ( world cup this time)

After yesterday's performance by the Indians, South Africa were always on the top, their decission to send Pollock worked coz he was easily their best batsmen (who played both pace and spin with ease) for the entire tour.

Indians should still think they can win coz South Africa can choke too and sending Pollock up the order shows how desperate they want to win and how afraid they are to loose to India, hiding their batsmen from Kumble.

Sachin Tendulkar has played this way against spin for a while now. The pace of his game play has been the subject of many debates already. I for one, am convinced that if tendulkar or dravid had shown more initiative yesterday, the match could have been won or saved. It was up to tendulkar, i think, simply because dravid is the kind of player that will hang in there for a long time. It was because of tendulkar's slow play that dravid went for an uncharacteristic push against harris and gave a simple catch back.

Not a good day for me, my adopted country was trashed by SL today and my mother land is clueless in this match, this is not a good sign for Indian Cricket, they ditched NZ and preferred SA instead, see the results, trashed in One dayers and about to be trashed in test cricket also. if they can get alteast two or three wickets today, I will be happy to have supported them tonight, why sehwag was opening in the second innings, no idea, dinesh karthik did well in the first innings, why to demoralise him in the second, so many things to correct before the world cup, may be 8 one dayers against WI and SL will be utilised properly with the right combination and motivate the right players for the world cup...... but we were like this in 2003 also after getting trashed by NZ (pitch also played their part then), but we went into the final to get trashed again....ups and downs is part of Indian Cricket...

Altough india made a blunder with their dismal batting performance, but they still have got a chance. with the rough and the 5th day advantages on a wearing pitch, Anil kumble can be deadly. Also te SA players dont have a good reputation of playing against the spinners. But from te other end india should not give away easy runs. If required than sachin or sehwag should operate from the other end trying to bowl a negative line and blocking runs, thus forcing the batsmen to make mistakes. Kumble has already shown some good deliveries from his armour.

I think that South Africa might collapse, Once there's spin from both sides.Let's be positive and not give up so easily.That's one BIG fault of the Indian fans is that they tend to be negative and give up easily.I am an Indian too, and don't like it.It's 1:51 am in California, and I am following this on cricinfo.

The Indian team and board needs a revamp. The Aussies drop guys like Dean Jones, Martyn etc and we continue to persist with the likes of Sewag, Tendulkar etc. Couple of things, just boycott the products these guys sell, or the companies putting these guys on billboards should cut short their contracts. Also I think the best thing for the board to do is sign 15 day contracts with the players. Test by test contracts. See what dropping has done to Ganguly. It is ridiculous how unprofessional, uncharacteristic and just plain dumb these guys are, and they continue to get greedier and fool all of us.

I am a big fan of Sachin. But looking at his performance in this series I feel that he should retire from test cricket. He should play only one day and that too end after world cup. Atleast this legend should end his career respectably. Atleast learn to retire from australia if u cant learn anything else from them.

Sachin should retire gracefully when he is still at the top. Look at Martyn, Warne, McGrath and slater for inspiration. The worth thing that can happen to Sachin is to be dropped unceremoniously. That would be the disgrace to his otherwise illustrious career. The way he has batted in 2006, it is clear that he is well over the hill. He will lose respect of people if he continues like this.

This is the not the first time Tendulkar used a stupid strategy of going for a complete defence. I clearly remember the Bangalore match against Pakistan where he played Danish Kaneria like this in an inexplicable way. With 8 fielders around him, and just 2 outside the circle also he didnt try to use feet on that day and finally perished giving a catch to a close fielder. We dont have a great bowling attack but 100% of our matches are lost due to our great batsmen only. Indian team cannot bat for atleast 3 sessions on an average pitch. That's the only reason for any test match loss.

Hi,Chakravarthy . I don't think there was any single player from India who retire with great pride like S Warne, S Waugh, McGrah n more from other countries. So surely Sachin is going in the same way as his senior teammates. He is strugling, making some runs to be in team, not taking any chalenge from opp. Very sad.

Frankly speaking, India doesnt deserve to even draw this test. If we lose, Sehwag and Tendulkar should be dropped, atleast for one series. Sachin averages even lesser than Brett Lee and Md.Rafique in 2006. There have been numerous tests and ODIs in the last two years where Sachin's utterly stupid defensive play took the momentum away and we ended up losing. It's time we treat our stars like the aussies do!!

We surrendered the match,as usual,on the 4thday,led by the Masterblaster and supported by the wall.If Irfan can be asked to find his rhythm and Viru will soon be asked to,Sachin should also be asked to do the same.This will also let everyone know that only performers can continue,simple.Our win at Wanderer's now looks like the present rain in Capetown..a "passing"shower of temporary glory,period.

Ragu is correct. Congratulations to India too! They sure were supposed to loose it 0-3. I'm sure they will not drop Sehwag in the coming series and would continue playing with 10 players. Bravo!!

Considering the past records, rains have never helped India in test matches in recent past. May be this one would! But thats just wishful thinking.

To me, 7 ball over made the difference.

They should have used Tendulkar and munaf in the begining, rather than zaheer and Kumble. Infact SA has picked Kumble as the main player of the 5th Day and send Pollok ahead. While they are not great players of Sachin and his unorthdox spin. You cannot deter a settled Smith and determined Pollok with Zaheer and Kumble respectively. The mood at the dresign room has lot to play in the mindframe of the players. But looking at the way they haev come out in the morning show a lack of planning and determination and group cohesiveness. The mood from the begining itself was of 'thisis enough its first time we won a test. That is indeed a great acheivement. We guys are happy to be a paper tigers as long as we have selective statistics to support us a group of people who always play drum for us.' But for those who is not established those lines doenot read much.
They should have rapped poor performers last night. They should have taunted Munaf and sachin so that tehy would come up to compensate for their poor show yesterday and bowl well. Sachin if chalenged comes good. But again there is complete lack of planning and inspiration. The situation is worse than when John Right was abou to quit. No Chappel could change the fortunes of Indins if not by themselves. They are too eager to dig their own grave and then happy to burry tehmseves in it.....

Sachin and Dravid showed yesterday how bad one can play.If you look in any team number three batsmen is a attacking player. Unlike Dravid who plays as if whole world on his shoulders. Both of them given soo much respect to debutant Harris. No postive intent was showed. we can saw both Sachin and Sehwag are liability to Indian team.

The Indians lost the plot on the first day. Scoring at a little over 2.5 rpo was never going to cut it on a pitch that was at its best on the first day. All this talk about building foundations is rubbish, since you can build a foundation only by scoring runs and not by wasting time.
Whats horrifying is that Indians refuse to buy into that mentality of positive test cricket. It's not like they have to make a huge leap of faith. Look at the most successful team in the last 6-7 years (Aussies) and look at their scoring rate and approach. If it can work consistently for such a long period, then it surely must be more than a passing fad.
If you're going to waste 50 balls to score a run, theres every possibility that the 51st delivery will be unplayable and then all you've achieved is wasting half an hour, which can be countered in a few minutes by the other team's more adventurous attitude. Also, scoring doesn't have to rely on mindless slogging; with such open field settings in test cricket, it should be easier to work the singles (but common sense has never been a virtue of Indian cricket).

Strangely thats how cricket is played in all countries except Australia.
If Saurav or Kaif doesnot perform a match, they will not be in the playing 11 next innings. If Viru fails for a year then its not a problem. As being said by our coach and captain "thats how he plays!". They got used to it and we too have to. Though we have 11 players, consider only 10. The remaining one is depends on how the opposition bowl, field and how much they are kind on India.

Sachin is almost out of form but no one is dare to admit that, because he is the master! Its long long time we saw consistent scores by SAchin, probably not after last world cup. He has scored in patches to keep his career average in good numbers. Scored more runs than anyone, but is he a match winner like Pointing or Jayasurya...?

When a country like NZ and England with small number of people are producing an international standard cricket, billion people INdia could not form a 11 member strong team!

Whom to blame? Who is responsible? CAptain? Coach? BCCI? Supporters?

Sachin Tendulkar had loads of pain in his back, which prevented him from taking that crucial stride forward that was required to counter the negative line Paul Harris was bowling.

Tendulkar is invaluable to the Indian cricket team, and has atleast 2-3 years in both forms of the game still left in him. All these suggestions that he should retire after the World Cup etc, please keep them to yourself. Only after he departs will you all realise how crucial he is for the side and the stability he lends.

Munaf Patel looks like a 35 year old like Akram said. Dravid needs to give Zak a bowl after the rain stops and then have Tendulkar/Sehwag and Kumble in tandem then on. I doubt the fast bowlers will play a part, since we need at least 15 overs for reverse swing to come into play and by that time the game might be over ....

I congratulate South Africa in advance. India should have capitalised after south africa were 281/6. Boucher and Pollpck added another 92 runs to reduce India's lead. Also I feel the mistake Asad Rauf made was a crucial point in the match. For the time being, if India want to delay South Africa winning they can either pray 4 rain and bowl Munaf and Kumble in tandem. Before the Second Test India sent off Irfan Pathan back 2 India to regain his bowling touch even if he had replaced Sehwag he would have scored runs and would have been very useful 2 india like shaun pollock is 2 south africa. Even bhajji could hav replaced him, and he should be dropped from both forms of de game.

After yesterday's pathetic display of batting blues, it is clear that SA should be deservedly the victorious team.Some of our guys, one felt, seemed to be in a tearing hurry to get back in to the pavilion when all that mattered was a bit of application to stay on at the crease.Some rough umpiring and indiscreet runouts didnt help the cause either!Only silver lining in the match for India so far has been the batting prowess displayed by Dinesh, truly a promising prospect for overseas seaming wickets!

why blame harris for bowling a -ve length? i believe india really needs to work on how to score singles to relieve the pressure. dravid is extremely bad at scoring singles and keeping the scoreboard ticking. my advice is - rather than give a football to the cricketers, give them a bat and play gully cricket. i rememebr when young, we would really try to score into v small gaps and score runs. this should help. and please introduce 5 km running for all players. they all look so tired when running on the field.

There's something about us that keeps us going. The comments above are quite fantastic I must say. There will be a time I am sure when we will get it all right. When VVS will not run himself out and lose a test because he thinks he could impress Vengsarkar for the World Cup, when Veeru will not be treated like Ponting just because he scores a 40, when Tendulkar will realise he is no longer the physically fit younger self who dominates bowling, when Dravid will start thinking again, when we will have genuine quickies, when we will stop blaming umpires and when we will not have to pray for India to win or for rains to assist.

There will be a time....

Though I agree with spicysudhi on Viru, but not on Tendulkar.

Dont forget that he is the second top scorer of the series only after Saurav.

Though we expect much more from him, I am sure we are debating about his inclusion in the team.

We need Viru to perform or to be out... like it has happened with Pathans, Yuvrajs and Kaifs. Nobody has doubts about their capabilities but they did not deserve a place in the team with their CURRENT forms.

Why...why not Viru?

Irrespective of the result of the game and series, I think it is time for the selectors to wield the axe. A few of the players are long in the tooth. The batting display yesterday has put what would have been a wonderful achievement, for India, either a victory of drawn test into doubt. A team that claims to have two of the best batsmen in the world in its ranks was tamed by a debutant bowling into the rough on the leg side. The display of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid was especially cowardly considering the game scenario at the time. India needs to borrow some lessons on "brave" cricket from Graeme Smith, Mickey Arthur and the South African side.
This series has also brought into focus Rahul Dravid's ineffectiveness as a captain of a national side. Rahul has been an outstanding batsman and strategist on the field, however his inability to lead by inspiring other has been absent, a trait amply demonstrated by Sourav Ganguly. Rahul faces the same problem as Sachin when it come to leading. He is an outstanding cricketer, however only a "leader amongst men", not a "leader of men".

By leader amongst men, I mean someone to fall back on, until we find an able replacement, a leader of men.

This match is tilted in SA's side. No doubt SA deserves to win this test and the series. India made a blunder by not picking Bhajji ahead of Munaf and the 'sensational off spinner' Sehwag. Newlands wicket assists spinners. Munaf looks very tired, lacks energy and is not fully fit. His body language shows lack of confidence. He was limping yesterday while bowling. Why was Pathan sent back. He was batting better than his great teammates. Why was Sehwag picked up ahead of Gambhir who batted well in the tour game. World Cup is distant dream now. We cannot even dream of winning a world cup. Cricket is a team game and not an individual sport mates.
BCCI should emulate Cricket Australia.

I 100% agree with the post by "dreamer". India wake up. Play only those who perform and deserve to play like Ganguly and Karthik. I guess its time to show players like Viru, Dhoni, VVS & Tendulkar the door. The above gang should only be selected if they perform consistently.

The way i see it, even if it clears up marginally, SA will go out and play.. 100 with pollock and smith around needs say 15 overs to make. The worst that can happen is that they might lose 2-3 wickets. If they lose that many, they can always take the excuse of bad light.
About selection, when will same standards apply to everyone. We kick Sourav out for bad performance, apply those yardsticks now and lets see how many guys actually make the cut.