Skip to main content

India and South Africa - A Special Bond

By



As far as I can remember, I have never had negative feelings while watching an India - South Africa match. I have loved quite a few of the Proteas. The nineties team especially. Yes, they had quite a few that I absolutely loved. I have talked about this enough in my past blogs. Let’s get on with the teams. When the two teams meet, there is a lot of healthy competition and rivalry in the air. Both teams respect and admire each other. The negativity that seems to fill the air in case of an India - Pakistan match or India - Australia is missing here.
The bond between India and South Africa is indeed very special and respectable. Both on the field and off of it. I am not even going to bring Mahatma Gandhi into the picture. I am strictly sticking to cricket. India welcomed South Africa with open arms after the apartheid came to an end. India took the lead and played against the team the moment the boycott came to an end. South Africa was welcomed into India in 1991. This was South Africa’s first international series after decades of being cast aside.
A lot happened in that series. Allan Donald, one of the best fast bowlers the world has ever seen, was discovered. India won the series. South Africa won the hearts of the Indian Cricket Fans along with the third and final match of the three-match series. An emotional captain Clive Rice was quoted in Wisden as saying, "I know how Neil Armstrong felt when he stood on the moon."

From that day to today, India and South Africa celebrated their friendship and have played a healthy game of cricket since.

India’s record in South Africa

6 test series and no wins. That is quite heartbreaking. Yes I know I said the bond and the rivalry is extremely friendly. That does not mean we do not want to defeat them on the cricket field. ‘Cos we so do. We still strive to defeat the team and work very hard at it. As do they. The game is not compromised. But the match is played with the right attitude. Right sportsmanship. And back to parties and stuff off the field together.My point was, India is yet to win a test series in South Africa. 
The men in blue are not just in good form but in excellent spirits as well. And why not. Virat Kohli and the missus. Shikhar Dhawan and the missus. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and the missus. Rohit Sharma and the missus.


Not just that. The Indian Cricket Team have had a marvelous 2017. Apart from defeating Sri Lanka hands down recently, they recorded 37 victories in the year. This is second best only to the 30 victories recorded by Australia in 2003. The mood is so good that the team looks to create history in South Africa. They can do it.

The schedule - three Tests, six One-Day Internationals (ODI) and three Twenty20 Internationals against South Africa with the first Test beginning on January 5 in Cape Town.
While the teams that have gone to the Rainbow Nation before are no less awesome. India also visits Australia and England after. The next year and a half will test the men in blue.

While India has been doing quite well, South Africa needs to buck up. They fizzled out not only in the Champions trophy but also against England. But they are the home team. And the conditions will be hard on India. India won in India and in Sri Lanka. Where the ball is slow. SA conditions will test the real form of India.
But there is something really special about the current team. So says my gut.
 Indu 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TNPL - A Brief Rundown

By
Based on the stupendously successful Indian Premier League is the Tamil Nadu Premier League. This Indian T20 cricket league has been established by the Tamil Nadu State Cricket Association to bring out more and more Natarajans and Washingtons who otherwise do not get a chance to showcase their skill and talent in the world of Cricket. The inaugural edition of the TNPL took place in 2016 and received unexpected and unprecedented success and love. There was a brilliant batch of young men who came forward and made an event out of the first season of TNPL. Venues  India Cements Ground, Thirunelveli NPR College Ground, Dindigul  MA Chitambaram Stadium, Chennai  Changes The purpose of every organization is to make it bigger and better. TNPL is no exception. At the inaugural TNPL 2016, there were the traditional two semifinals and one final. This year will see a format similar to IPL. The finalists are decided by two qualifiers along with one eliminator. This format has pr
Post a Comment
Read more

Editor’s Pick(PKL)

By
Four more days of Kabaddi, a teeny break and the next round commences on October 23rd. The super playoffs. All this hard work only for that. A look at the point table will give you an idea about who COULD go to the next level. Course anything could happen in the last minute. Anyone could topple. You remember the havoc Bangladesh created during the Champions Trophy. They threw out the big guns. I mean, they probably stopped West Indies from qualifying too, come to think of it. Back to Kabaddi. Zone A is still topped by Gujarat followed by Haryana and Pune. The other three teams - Mumbai, Jaipur and Delhi. Zone B, Bengal take the lead followed by Patna and UP. Today’s match-UP meets Bengaluru. UP is third and are doing very good for themselves. Bengaluru, fifth on the table, don’t really look like they have a chance. Only thing they do want to do now is walk out with a smile saying yes, we tried. UP Yoddha - Squad strength: 18 (16 Indian, 2 Overseas) Defenders – Jeeva Kumar, Ha
Post a Comment
Read more

From all of us Fans to Players & Officials: Please don't treat us with kid gloves

By Anonymous
As any fan will tell you, we not just love, but understand the sport and our teams like no one else. And that’s also why they keep bankrolling the big fat salaries of the players, the profits of the clubs and the boondoggle of officials. The recently concluded test match raised, in my mind, three instances where the thought process seems to be – it is OK for us to handle it, but it is too hot for fans . Common, now, please don’t treat us with kid gloves. One: The first one, inevitably, is about the DRS and taking the dugouts inputs in it. The rules are clear – the decision to ask for a decision review stays with the players on the field. Within a few seconds of the umpires’ decision, the batting team can dispute an out decision or the bowling team can dispute a not-out decision, without consulting with anyone outside the playing field. The controversy of Smith’s ‘brain-fade’ and Kohli’s allegations have played out ad nauseam on TV and cyberspace, so I will spare you that
2 comments
Read more