***Official*** India in Australia

[Son Of Coco]

I have to agree, Pathan and Singh have bowled superbly and should be joint MOTM. They have consistently hit the right areas and swung it and looked dangerous the whole time.

IMO they show the sort of thing that Bracken could do for Australia. Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Tait should both be sent back to play some domestic cricket where Johnson can learn how to swing the ball and Tait can get his confidence back up. Bracken, Hilfy and Noffke into the squad to replace them.

I think Noffke should be brought in at some stage. Tait hasn't lived up to the hype in this test. His efforts in the last over of the 2nd day were embarrassing. He's always been a bit all over the shop though, so I guess you have to live with it if you select him. I'm not sure the criticism for not using him alot yesterday was warranted though...he hardly instilled confidence. If Ponting was looking to keep the runs down and the pressure on the only bowlers he could go to were Clark and Lee...and you can't bowl them all day.

 

[Son Of Coco]

The ball is brand new - what exactly would he be doing? If it was older, you can claim he is doing it for some reverse swing.

Who knows!? It's more than likely he's doing nothing at all. If he was, we don't know when he was doing it, what he was doing, or why...it's obviously a lot of speculation by bored media at the moment.

 

[Burgey]

Just the Aussie media getting their excuses in early.

As opposed to the last-day capitulation in Sydney where Dravid copped a shocker but 9 others went down in about 2 overs more than 2 sessions? Yes, I heard the Indian media commenting lavishly on that aspect of the defeat.

Who knows what it is, and who cares? It doesn't look like an Imran Khan bottle top. Could be anything, is most likely nothing.

 

[Son Of Coco]

As opposed to the last-day capitulation in Sydney where Dravid copped a shocker but 9 others went down in about 2 overs more than 2 sessions? Yes, I heard the Indian media commenting lavishly on that aspect of the defeat.

 

[Burgey]

BTW, there seems to be a fair amount of criticism over our bowling. Not sure how fair it is. For mine, we actually bowled very well on the whole. 330 and 294 are good scores to dismiss a batting line up as good as India's for on a batting friendly wicket. It's just that our batsmen have let us down majorly.

Tait was the only bowler who you could say was poor.

AWTA - was thinking about that this mornig - 20 wickets for 620 odd runs on a good deck, and in hot conditions for the first innings wasn't too bad. Really, the session pre-lunch day 2 is what cost us. Even the middle session pon day 2 when Ponting and Clarke got out early, the Aussies put on 2/120 odd for the session.

Three highlights for me yesterday were Tendulkar's straight drive off Lee, Laxman's pull shot late off Lee and Ponting's back foot cover drive. Lee's spell first up was absolutely fantastic too. The way he worked Tendulkar over for that lb was just class stuff.

 

[silentstriker]

India should start with a good spell from RP and Pathan, and then when the ball is about 26-28 overs old, Kumble should take the ball and bowl all day while switching guys at the other end. So far he has underbowled the part timers, but Sehwag and Tendulkar could be very effective, if they can put the ball in the right areas.

 

[Captain Cricket]

I just hope Ponting and Hussey can steer this sinking ship...

 

[Nate]

Would love to see Symonds make a big one today and guide Aussies home.

Worrrrrd!

 

[silentstriker]

It's one thing for Aussies to win, but if Symonds is at the crease, it will be the worst match ever, considering he'll have been dropped 78 times.

 

[sideshowtim]

It's one thing for Aussies to win, but if Symonds is at the crease, it will be the worst match ever, considering he'll have been dropped 78 times.

lololol. It's funny because Symonds has gotten a few lucky breaks in his last few innings.

 

[silentstriker]

lololol. It's funny because Symonds has gotten a few lucky breaks in his last few innings.

No, he has gotten a few lucky breaks in the last ten minutes of his last inning.

 

[silentstriker]

About to start - can't wait!

 

[silentstriker]

Weird......save yourself for later Kumble!

 

[silentstriker]

Oh, come on! That was out!

 

[Craig]

Ravi Shastri reckons India will win 30 minutes either side of the tea break. I guess India have to take belief that if they can bowl out Australia cheaply in the 1st innings, they can do it again.

 

[sideshowtim]

Hmm, that LBW was pretty close. The more LBW-happy Rauf might've given that.

 

[silentstriker]

Live it looked out, but on replay, the height could have been a factor. Damn it - what a wicket that would have been.

 

[jeevan]

Oh, come on! That was out!

Galling, yes it was. (And if the bounce factor was the doubt, how was Dhoni lbw in the first innings).

ps Haweye says it was going over. It didnt look it was going up that quickly, but Haweye has it
as quite over. So maybe..

 

[LJMJ]

Hussey was out plumb there.

Anyway, very poor decision by Kumble to start off with himself. Pathan and RP should be bowling now.

 

[silentstriker]

Galling, yes it was. (And if the bounce factor was the doubt, how was Dhoni lbw in the first innings).

Hawkeye confirms it was going way over, so you can't complain.....