In the second T20 against South Africa, Team India had to face a crushing defeat by 51 runs. This defeat has reawakened many old questions. India flopped in every department, from batting to bowling, but the strategy of head coach Gautam Gambhir is being discussed the most. Who ‘experimented’ with the team’s batting order for the second consecutive match. This time Team India had to pay the price in the form of a heavy defeat.

Sending Surya to number 4 created controversy

In the match played in Mullanpur, captain Suryakumar Yadav was once again sent to number 4 instead of his usual position. Akshar Patel was sent to bat before him, which spread surprise among the former cricketers. Surya was out after scoring 5 runs in just 4 balls and the team could not recover from the difficult situation it faced in the beginning.

Robin Uthappa raised questions on Gambhir’s thinking

Former Indian batsman Robin Uthappa said after the match that while chasing a big target, the team should send its ‘best batsmen’ up. Uthappa said, “Gambhir had said in the pre-series press conference that only the opening is fixed and all the other batsmen are flexible. However, in a big target, you cannot send your top batsmen down. If Akshar was sent as a pinch-hitter, he should have done power hitting, but neither that plan nor his role was clearly visible.” He said that after the fall of wickets in the initial overs, the team needs stability, not more experiments.

Dale Steyn’s sharp statement

South Africa’s legendary fast bowler Dale Steyn also called Gambhir’s planning a ‘big mistake’. Steyn said, “Surya is your best T20 batsman. Sending him down is not trial-and-error, it is a simple mistake. If a left-right combination had to be made then it was fine, but here two left-handers were sent up even after the right-hander was out. It was completely incomprehensible.”

Uthappa gave advice

Uthappa clearly said that Team India will have to fix the positions of the top-3 batsmen, whether the team bats first or chases. He said, “Flexibility will come after the powerplay, not before. Had Surya been sent one-down, he would have had 60 balls. By sending him at number 4, the team has put itself in trouble. Such continuous changes can harm India in a big tournament in the future.”

India Vs South Africa 2nd Test Match: The South African cricket team that toured India has performed brilliantly in Test cricket. By taking a 1-0 lead in the Test series, the South African team has brought itself closer to winning the series. While the players have received a lot of applause for their excellent performance, a statement by team coach Shukri Conrad has become a bone of contention, due to which he is being reprimanded. On the fourth day of the second Test match in Guwahati, the South African coach used a word for the Indian team which has a controversial history in cricket. After this statement, he was reprimanded by Indian legend Anil Kumble and former South African fast bowler Dale Steyn.

South African coach gave controversial statement

On the fourth day of the second Test match being played between India and South Africa, South Africa declared its second innings at 260 runs and gave a target of 549 runs to Team India. After the end of the day’s play, when South African coach Conrad was asked in the press conference why he delayed declaring the innings, he gave a controversial statement in response. Conrad said that he wanted to tire Team India and see them crawling on their knees. For which he used the English word ‘Grovel’.

The South African coach’s use of the word ‘grovel’ became the real cause of controversy because during the West Indies tour in 1976, England captain Tony Greig had used this word for the West Indies team, which means lying face down on the ground or crawling on the knees. There was a lot of uproar on this matter then.

Anil Kumble and Dale Steyn reprimanded

The use of this word in cricket after 49 years has created controversy and Conrad is facing criticism. Before the start of the fifth day’s play, Indian veteran spinner Anil Kumble advised the South African coach not to be arrogant and to remain humble.

Kumble said in the Star Sports show, “There is history associated with this word. 50 years ago the England captain said this in the West Indies and we saw what happened. South Africa has probably won this series but when you are at the top, the choice of your words is important. At such times, humility is most important.”

At the same time, former South African fast bowler Dale Steyn also appeared unhappy with the coach’s statement and clearly said that he is not in support of it. Stan also said in the same show, “I am not in support of it. His style was probably not as tough as Tony Greig. But that does not matter. You cannot use such words. It is very disappointing.”

Rishabh Pant is the captain in the Guwahati Test, he has more responsibilities but an irresponsible attitude was seen in his batting. When he came to the crease, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudarshan were out within 10 balls. After the continuous fall of wickets, it was expected from the captain that he would play carefully but he was out while trying to hit a six. Captain Pant scored 7 runs in 8 balls.

South Africa had scored 489 runs in the first innings. Senuran Muthusamy scored his first Test century, while bowler Marco Jansson also played an explosive inning of 93 runs. He hit 7 sixes in this innings. It was expected that Indian batsmen would also do well on this pitch, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal had given a good start, but after their dismissal, Team India fell apart. The worst wicket among these was that of captain Rishabh Pant, who was out after playing a bad shot.

The veteran called Rishabh Pant’s shot ‘brainfed’

Former South African fast bowler Dale Steyn described Rishabh Pant’s shot as ‘brainfed’. Although he did not write the name of Rishabh Pant, but after Pant’s dismissal he wrote on social media, “This is just a brainfed shot.” Let us tell you that brainfed means that shot in cricket. It was not played thoughtfully, rather it was played without thinking or by losing concentration. This is irresponsible or a bad shot from one side.

That’s just a brainfade shot

— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) November 24, 2025

Rishabh Pant hit a six on the second ball

Rishabh Pant had hit a six on his second ball. Even on the ball of Marco Jansson on which he was out, he went ahead and played a big shot. But the ball took the thick edge of the bat and went into the hands of the wicket keeper. The sound came clearly, so the umpire also had no problem in giving out. However, Pant surprised everyone by taking DRS also. Before Pant’s wicket, 3 wickets in the form of Yashasvi Jaiswal (58), Sai Sudarshan (15) and Dhruv Jurel (0) had fallen within 3 overs.

Just saw dismissal of Rishabh Pant seems wasn’t interested to bat today, I know it’s his style of gameplay but wasn’t the right situation #Cricket #indvssa

— Sagar Sirwani (@SagarSirwani03) November 24, 2025

Rishabh pant is the most irresponsible batsman in Indian team. #INDvsSA

— Anirudh dubey (@adnightowl95) November 24, 2025

Rishabh pant needs to understand the situation. Aggression doesn’t mean hitting every ball. You are the captain of India, what are you doing. #TestCricket

— Mahesh Joshi (@MaheshJ61136850) November 24, 2025

Rishabh Pant is the most irresponsible cricketer, always hiding his failures behind the excuse that ‘Yeh toh mera natural game hai’.

— Soumya here (@here_soumya) November 24, 2025

Indian fans also seemed angry with Rishabh Pant’s shot selection and the position in which he tried to play that shot. Fans criticized Pant’s shot on social media.

Cricket has given the world great batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar, Sir Viv Richards, Brian Lara and Virat Kohli. Kurtali Ambrose, Malcom Marshall and Muttiah Muralitharan have carried forward the bowlers’ legacy. One of these names is also of South African fast bowler Dale Steyn, who holds the record of remaining the number-1 bowler for the longest day in Test Rankings. Stan remained the number-1 bowler in the Test for 2,343 days.

Dale Stan, who was famous for his deadly speed and swing, made his international debut in 2004. For the next decade, he led the South African pace attack. Stan first became the world’s number-1 Test bowler in 2008. The golden phase of his career came from here because Dale Steyn had remained the top bowler in the world in red-ball cricket for the next 2,343 days. The record of staying at this point for the longest time is still the name of Stan. He remained the world’s number-one bowler in the Test from 2008 to 2014.

Dale Steyn took 439 wickets in his nearly one and a half decade long Test career and took 439 wickets. Stan is still the highest wicket -taking bowler for South Africa in Test cricket. After him comes the number of Sean Pollock in this list, who took a total of 421 wickets in his red ball career.

The longest bowlers living at number-1 position in Tests

Dale Stan is the longest bowler to remain at number-1 position in Test cricket. The second place was Kurtali Ambrose of West Indies, who remained the top bowler for 1,719 days in the peak of his career. Ambrose took a total of 405 wickets in his Test career. The third number is Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka, who had occupied the number-1 position for 1711 days.

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If you look at the list of batsmen who have scored the most runs in the World Championship of Legends 2025, then there is no AB de Villiers. De Villiers scored 431 runs in the tournament at an incredible average of 143.67, while no other batsman touched the 200 runs figures in the entire tournament. Now de Villiers’ compatriot cricketer and former fast bowler Dale Steyn has said that de Villiers is playing better than half of the IPL players even at the age of 41.

Dale Stan said through social media, “AB de Villiers is still better than half of international players playing in IPL.” Stan’s statement came when the last Saturday de Villiers scored an unbeaten 120 against Pakistan in the WCL 2025 final. In this innings, he hit 12 fours and 7 sixes. Thanks to his innings, South Africa won the title of WCL 2025 by trampling Pakistan by 9 wickets.

Unpopular/Popular Opinion.

Ab is still better than half the internationals at ipl. Maybe even more.

– Dal Steyn (@Dalsteyn62) August 3, 2025

Three stormy centuries scored in WCL 2025

De Villiers scored a stormy century in his first match in WCL 2025. He played a rage of 116 runs in 51 balls against England. The rain of his bat did not stop here because he had hit 123 runs in 46 balls in the match against Australia. He scored a century in three of the 6 matches played in the tournament.

Prior to the World Championship of Legends, AB de Villiers last played a competitive cricket in IPL 2021. De Villiers scored 5,162 runs in the 170 -match IPL career. In his international T20 career, de Villiers scored 1,672 runs in 78 matches. He could never play a century innings in his international T20 career, but had done the feat of scoring 3 centuries in the IPL.

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Shubman Gill or Ben Stokes, which team captain in India and England is more rich? Net will blow the vessel

The Indian cricket team has a chance to win the 5th Test and end the series draw, while even if this match is drawn, England will win the series. The match will be played from today at The Oval Cricket Ground in London. Former South African cricketer Dale Stan made a big prediction about this match. He hopes that Indian fast bowler Mohammad Siraj will take 5 wickets in an innings.

Mohammad Siraj has taken a total of 14 wickets in 7 innings played so far. Siraj took 6 wickets in the first innings of the second Test played in Birmingham, India won the same match on this tour. Jasprit did not play Bumrah in this match, it is likely that Bumrah will not play even in the fifth Test. In such a situation, Siraj will once again be seen leading Indian bowling.

Dale Steyn predicted Mohammad Siraj

Former South African fast bowler Dale Stan predicted tweeting before India vs England started the 5th Test. He wrote, “Siraj will take Fifer (5 wicket hall) in the 5th Test.”

Siraj to take a fiber in 5th test.

– Dal Steyn (@Dalsteyn62) July 30, 2025

Mohammad Siraj had put 30 overs in the fourth Test, in which he spent 140 runs from an economy of 4.66. He got only 1 wicket. In the third Test, he took 4 wickets (2+2) in both innings. He took 1 wicket in the second innings after 6 wickets in the first innings of the second Test. He got 2 wickets in the first Test.

Arshdeep Singh or Kuldeep Yadav, who will get a chance?

If Jasprit Bumrah does not play at The Oval, then Arshdeep Singh can get a chance to debut. Although there is a demand to be fed to Kuldeep Yadav from the beginning on this tour, but he has not played in all four matches. It is expected that in the last Test he can get a chance in playing 11.

When and where live, India vs England 5th Test?

The 5th Test will be played at The Oval Cricket Ground from 31 July and 4 August. According to Indian time, the toss will start at 3 pm and each day the match will start at 3:30 pm. The live broadcast will be on Sony Sports Network and live streaming geiograph on app and website.

South African legendary Dale Steyn was the world’s most dangerous bowler in his time, his popularity is also very high in India. He won many matches to his national team but the team never won the ICC Trophy during his time. When the team won the World Test Championship final under the captaincy of Temba Bavuma, he became emotional. He was live and then his tears started flowing.

Temba Bavuma won the toss and chose the first bowling. Australia had scored 212 runs but the South Africa team was piled on 138, but in the second innings the team made a brilliant comeback. South Africa had a target of 282 runs to win, which the team won by 5 wickets. After this victory, the players of South Africa also looked emotional.

Crying Dale Stan

Reacting to the victory, Dale Stan, who is talking on Star Sports, said, “What can you say right now, it is amazing. I am sitting in my house, I have a cap of my team. I will take my son on the walk now, life will run again like that.” After speaking so much, Stan had tears in his eyes, he just stopped up on camera and started crying. He picked up the paper and started wiping his tears, he could not speak anything. During this time his eyes were moist.

Tears of joy from #Dalesteyn

He witnessed the heartbreak, live through the Near-Misses and Now, He Saw History Being Made as South Africa Lifted Their Second ICC Trophy after 27 years.#WTC25 #Southafrica #Champions pic.twitter.com/uyvswjt4zb

– Star Sports (@StarsportsIndia) June 15, 2025

South Africa won ICC Trophy after 27 years

South Africa has won the first ICC title since 1998, its second ICC title. Aiden Markram, who was the hero of the final, scored a century (136) in the second innings, Temba Bavuma also played an important role in both innings (36 and 66).

IND vs Eng: South Africa won the title by defeating Australia by 5 wickets in the World Test Championship final. After this, former cricketer Dale Stan predicted about the India vs England Test series and told which team will win this series. According to him, the results of the five matches will come out and Shubman Gill and Team will fight strong battle.

Under the captaincy of Shubman Gill, Team India will play the first Test at the Handingley Cricket Stadium in Leeds from June 20. After about 15 years, this is happening when there is no one from Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin in the Indian Test team, the three veterans have taken retirement from this format. Now there is a team under the captaincy of Gill, in which most of the players are young.

Who will win India vs England Test Series?

Dale Steyn feels that the results of all the matches of the series will come out. When asked about the geiographs of the India vs England Test series, he said, “All the five matches will be close, no one will be disinterested. I think England will win this series 3-2.” However, he also said that no team will win easily in any match.

England’s performance in McCullum’s coaching has been excellent in domestic Test matches, winning 15 in 20 matches. 4 matches have lost and 1 remained inconclusive. Looking at these figures, it seems that the prediction of Dale Steyn will be true. However, Jaspreet Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Arshdeep Singh’s fast bowling can do wonders in England. KL Rahul, Shubman Gill is seen in good form.

The Indian cricket team has not won the Test series in England for 18 years. In 2007, India won the last Test series in England under the captaincy of Rahul Dravid. After this, under the captaincy of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, the team toured England 4 times, but lost 3 series and ended at 1 draw.

pic.twitter.com/22Addfxvs6

– BCCI (@Bcci) June 14, 2025

Indian team is playing an intra-squad match

Currently, an intra-squad match is being played between the Indian team and the India A team, which will be till June 16. KL Rahul and Shubman Gill played a half -century innings on the first day.

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