India beats top-ranked South Africa in three days

What are people's thoughts now on the pitches in this series? The Nagpur pitch is a shocker as even Cricinfo's Indian staff have conceded in the opening day's report: "Not long into the first hour of the third Test, the Nagpur pitch looked like it had been played on for days. The dry surface, spider-webbed like a cracked windshield, had already developed significant rough patches because of the bowlers' follow-throughs."

On the other fact in 2008 and 2010 look at Australia scores in India. We managed to score over 400 and 450 in the 1st innings. So can't say we had bad pitches mate. The problems is art of playing spin bowling has diminished. Speak to former players or travel to India and they will tell you that that pitch was a standard pitch good players of spin bowling will make runs on.

Ronan if Dhoni hammered a double hundred on a pitch batting on Day 3 and 4 - how can you blame the pitch In Hyderdabad - Pujara and Vijat batted the whole 2nd day and most of Day 3. Mohali was a batting belter. Indian seam bowlers took the wickets. I agree Delhi was shocker. Australia had the best conditions to bat in.

The South Africans would definitely hit back; Bangalore Test would be crucial for both teams; Virat Kohli's captaincy had been decisive in many ways in the game

rohit India did well overseas when they had three exceptional batsmen averaging over 50 in test cricket a spinner who took 600 test wickets and two good seamers If that is the blueprint for indian success overseas they will be waiting a very long while

india also struggled on this pitch when was the last time india struggled to score runs at home against a side without a world class spinner

Chinmay yes the south Africans were poor but inda didn't score a huge amount of runs on the pitch either being bowled for 200 twice against a side without quality spinner In my opinion that says something about the pitch

"The only raging turner that Australia faced on their last tour of India was the fourth test by which time the series had already been lost." Not at all. The first Test at Chennai there were pronounced footmarks 10 overs into the first day and Ashwin was already getting the ball to turn and leap at that point. Second Test at Hyderabad there were puffs of dust, pronounced footmarks and sharp spin from as early as the 30th over on day one with big variations in bounce from early in the match. Third Test at Mohali was the best pitch of the series but that is faint praise, it too had variable bounce and dust flying from day two. Fourth Test at Delhi we all know was a shocking pitch and attracted heavy criticism from Ravis Shastri, Ramiz Raja and Laxman.

Two players who applied themselves got runs for their efforts and that too in both innings. Vijay got 75 & 47. Pujara got 31 & 77. The pitch was the same for them as well. But they dug in. Patience is a quality which both of them possess. And patience was the only thing that would have been rewarded for batsmen. Alas with T20 this trait is diminishing. But it proves that the wicket was not bad. Rather the application was bad. I will lift a word from Mike Tyson here. One of the 'baddest' application of batsmanship.

SA were definitely outplayed. I watched the match and apart from AB De Villiers, there was no one who seemed comfortable and positive enough to handle the spin. Apart from this, the spinners including Ashwin, Jadeja and Mishra bowled very well in a unit. I dont understand your point about Dale Steyn? He had an injury...and comparing him to Windies greats who played on Indian pitches (which couldn't have been as doctored as this one) in a era without helmets and less skillful batsmen is invalid. It would be better if the pitches in India were left alone without being forced to perform like this. Would like to see at least some bounce and something extra. Yet, it is India, and they want to win using their biggest strengths (yet aren't improving on weaknesses...fast bowlers and even batting against pace and good spin). Otherwise, it was a fast but entertaining match at times.

I understand your point of doctoring the pitches. In instances like this, the pitch is designed for just one sole purpose, which is not correct. But it is India...and on pitches with turn, opening with a spinner...especially with India whose pacers don't have a point to even bowl really!

Have read the comments on this item. Most of them tend to suggest that (a) wicket was a dustbowl and (b) that is why India doesn't do well overseas. I would disagree a bit. Last time India lost in India was against England.. That was when KP and Cook out batted the Indian stars including Tendulkar and Swann-Monty out bowled India. And england players didn't dust bowls to practice on to prepare for India. Wickets in Pakistan were never like Perth and they have produced the best fast bowlers. India did well overseas when likes of Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar,VVS and Ganguly batted well and likes of Zaheer, Srinath, Kumble, etc bowled well. India will do well when likes of Vijay, Pujara, Kohli, Rahane,Rohit etc will bat well in English (where Aussies also struggle) and AU-SaF conditions well. Even if pitches in India are "truer", it will still take adjustment. In the end it depends on how well players adapt. VVS did well in AU despite playing at dustbowls in India. India can never recreate the swinging conditions of England. Still they have won there when players have mastered those conditions during county cricket. Only way Indian team will improve is for Indian cricketers to play more in overseas condition. Unfortunately that's what IPL is eating into maybe.

As for Amla remarks on the pitch. He is the most polite cricketer you could ever come across, the official could give him out LBW off the bat and he would just turn around and walk off.

I think the pitch was a shocker, if India had scored 400 and the Proteas 180 and 140 it would be different but for India to score 200 in both innings shows that it was not a far contest. Whatever anyone says, they reality is the best cricket pitched for a test match are generally good for batting for about 3 days before allowing for turn on days 4 and 5. This I not just in the South Africa, Australia, New Zealand etc. England just played 3 tests in the UAE in pitches that favored Pakistan but still allowed for a fair contest over the 5 days. The last time India were in South Africa they never played on one green top, so there is no basis for people to get defensive and say pitches are prepared to disadvantage them in this country (South Africa) Lets just hope Bangalore and Dehli are better surfaces

"It adds variety and interest to test cricket to have pitches which change over the 5 days." Exactly...look at this Gabba pitch for example: from day one Mark Craig was getting sharp bounce and decent, fast turn. It had plenty in it to keep spinners interested, yet it also offered nice pace and lift for the seamers, and was great to bat on when set.

Jadeja is the biggest fraud in world cricket averaging 17 at home and 46 away He is literally the equivalent of Mitchell Johnson playing every home match on a WACA green-top before being exposed after one test away on a "normal" deck

I should say though that this is not in any way an attempt to defend Australia's abominable record in Asia. Australia have been weak in actively avoiding playing Tests in Asia and as a result they really struggle when they play there. Over the past 10 years, Australia have played just 17 Tests in Asia compared to 20 in England alone. That's a sad situation.

Kersi unfortunately I think that is the latter, a pipe dream. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that there is variety in pitches across the world. But it can go too far sometimes.

"In cricket the WACA is or maybe was the biggest home ground advantage ever." Yet India didn't have to play there last summer, while the Gabba completely lacked its normal pace and bounce, leaving it lifeless. Of the four Tests last summer, not one of them had any pace or bounce in the pitch, making it far easier for the Indians. Have Australia ever had a Test tour to India where all the pitches didn't help the spinners?

NSW had a great turning wicket at the SCG for years. It would start as a hard deck, high bounce and often would seam about if cloudy weather was around. If you survived the 1st day it was a ripper to bat on, then by day 3 it would slow down and bounce much lower. By day 4, it only allowed very fast and/or accurate quicks a good chance of wickets but now helped spinners to come into the game. By day 5, it was a turner. This was almost a perfect test match cricket pitch as all sorts of expertise were needed to consistently score well there. Good batsmen still scored, but during the match all sots of bowlers got a chance. I remember S.Gavaskar (Ind) and D.Randall (Eng) scoring brilliant centuries there, and the Aussies beating the mighty West Indies twice in the 1980's, simply because they couldn't handle spin bowling. Sadly they started doctoring the pitch to get Test matches to last 5 days. They deny this but look at the sorry state of the ground now. They lifted the Bulli top soil and the pitch lost its character. Its now a bland excuse of a pitch barely able to hold 1st class matches. Melbourne is the same, a horrible pitch with its bland drop-in pitches. As for Indian pitches, you need to remember the climate there. There are some pitches which help fast bowlers, but no way would the BCCI allow SA to bowl on those. Why should they? Australia doesn't prepare turners for Indian or SL touring sides, they give them bouncing pitches or at worst, dead roads like last year (you can speculate on whose orders, the BCCI or Ch 9). The majority of pitches in India are slow turners so of course the pitches are doctored to favour the home side, is that any different to England ensuring their pitches at Headingly and Manchester were absolute seamers so S.Broad and J.Anderson can run riot? As for this match, I agree with most of the Indian bloggers. I watched a fair bit of each day and yes, the pitch looked terrible but it wasn't biting and jumping, more like slowish turn with variable bounce so it wasn't easy to bat on for anyone. The SA batsmen should have been able to handle it, but they couldn't and the team with the better spinners won the match. If you want to succeed in India, you need good batsmen who can handle pressure of tight spin bowling with crowded fields all around you and you need to have some damned good spinners yourself. Australia got flogged on the last tour because we had neither of these and the team was ripping itself apart with the clown of a SA coach. If a slogger like Dhoni can score a double ton against you, then your bowling attack is shite. Remember also that on that tour, Bhuvi and Zac (both mid-paced seamers) got heaps of wickets, it wasn't only the spinners.