***Official Australia in India***

[chalky]

Is Stuart Clark carrying an injury? Sems strange that Watson & Michael Clarke would be used before him even if he hasn't been at his best.

 

[pasag]

Can turn commentary off on foxtel active

 

[Mister Wright]

Can turn commentary off on foxtel active

Can understand with Nicholas doing the duties.

Can't understand why White is in the side if Clarke is going to be preferred.

 

[duffer]

When Ganguly got out yesterday if someone had offered me 360 I would've bit their hand off. Hoping our spinners can make this look a minefield.

 

[Mister Wright]

India not out of this one. Trailing by 70 and 2 quality spinners in their side. However, Australia in the box seat atm.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Definitely a lot closer now than it could have been.

I'd say it's 60-40 Australia right now, India can definitely win if they bowl well enough. They'd probably need to knock over Australia for 200 at most though. If Australia are still batting at stumps, that should take an Indian win off the table.

I imagine Ponting will want to bat out the day and probably 30 minutes or so tomorrow morning and go for a lead of 350 or so just to be safe, then he'll declare. Realistically 300 should be plenty but Ponting's never been one for an aggressive declaration.

 

[Speersy]

Dhoni leading the team talk there,

ohh edit, Kumble is off teh field

 

[pasag]

Definitely a lot closer now than it could have been.

I'd say it's 60-40 Australia right now, India can definitely win if they bowl well enough. They'd probably need to knock over Australia for 200 at most though. If Australia are still batting at stumps, that should take an Indian win off the table.

I imagine Ponting will want to bat out the day and probably 30 minutes or so tomorrow morning and go for a lead of 350 or so just to be safe, then he'll declare. Realistically 300 should be plenty but Ponting's never been one for an aggressive declaration.

Yeah agreed, they won't go quicker then 3 an over and will make it so it's a likely draw with a possible Australia win on day five if India collapse. Given of course Australia themselves don't collapse today.

 

[duffer]

Kumble injured. Ouch, this changes things big time.

 

[Pratters]

Excellent fightback by India. India need to bowl well and hope that the pitch supports them to come back into the game. It is still a big advantage Australia given their deep batting line up. India has the momentum with them though.

 

[social]

Definitely a lot closer now than it could have been.

I'd say it's 60-40 Australia right now, India can definitely win if they bowl well enough. They'd probably need to knock over Australia for 200 at most though. If Australia are still batting at stumps, that should take an Indian win off the table.

I imagine Ponting will want to bat out the day and probably 30 minutes or so tomorrow morning and go for a lead of 350 or so just to be safe, then he'll declare. Realistically 300 should be plenty but Ponting's never been one for an aggressive declaration.

270 on a fith day pitch (meaning Aus has to score 200 in 2nd innings) will be a massive task for India and will require excellent batting AND poor bowling

 

[Arjun]

Zaheer=MVP!

 

[Athlai]

SJS is the gunnest poster.

 

[Speersy]

Hayden on a pair here

 

[duffer]

That was close but fair enough by Rauf. Zaheer starting well.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

270 on a fith day pitch (meaning Aus has to score 200 in 2nd innings) will be a massive task for India and will require excellent batting AND poor bowling

I agree with that, but I don't think Ponting will declare with a lead of only 270.

 

[duffer]

Sharma has had issues bowling to left handers before. Be interesting to see in this series how he does against these two openers.

 

[social]

I agree with that, but I don't think Ponting will declare with a lead of only 270.

Neither do I but it would be a reasonable declaration

Given the time it'll take to get 300 or 350 ahead, a draw is by far the most likely result unless one team falls in a screaming heap

 

[SJS]

With all due respect SJS, I don't think Yuvraj is "far more talented" than some of the guys being championed today.

I've always maintained that Yuvraj's talent was overhyped....the fact that he got so many chances and yet players like Mazumdar, Dharmani, Kaif and Badri never got a fair chance is something that can happen only in India.
Politics is rife in Indian cricket - you want know why Australia are a better team. Its not because Australia have vastly superior talent to India - its because they have a cricketing culture and system that fosters and rewards excellence.
That is something India sadly lacks.

I do not know what makes you think "politics is rife in Indian cricket". It would be much better to say which player you think should have played in place of which player (who was kept in the side due to "Politics") and I will give a detailed reply.

Yes the selection system is not perfect thanks to a sort of 'proportional representation" in the selection of selectors. But invariably that effects (on the few occasions that it does which is not as often as is claimed) the fringe players in a touring squad. Of course, everyone is not satisfied with the final selection but thats no surprise. I haven't ever seen a billion people agreeing on fifteen names. So if the player YOU or I think should be in the squad blame it on politics if he doesn't.

Of course, different selectors think differently. Sometimes a player is chosen with three selectors for and two against. Clearly if two of five selectors think he should not be selected, there will be millions amongst the fans who will think so too. Does that imply politics? Is there no room for 'normal' unbiased dissent amongst selectors and fans? Must we always assume the worst?

The panel under Vengsarkar did not think Ganguly deserved a place in the Rest of India squad and the one under Srikanth felt he should be in the squad for the first two Tests. Does this necessarily mean one or the other selection panel was indulging in politics? Is it not possible that these five people (or the majority amongst them) think differently than the majority in the earlier panel?

By the way, how come no one screams for politics in the dropping of Jaffer (a Mumbai man with two Test double hundreds). I am not saying he should be in the side. Just pointing out that fans are fickle and they have their favourites and the moment they (the favourites) are not selected the red light is turned on.

How many chances Badrinath got this year in all? Wanr me to tell you what he scored?

When you get a chance you have to encash it? Its a tough professional world.

Kaif was unlucky to be dropped after the West Indies tour in 2006. But why was he in the side in the first place? because Sachin was injured. When Sachin came back, he had to play. Is this politics? Doesn't it happen in Australia. Want to count the number of times MacGill has filled in for Warne with great distinction and yet been dropped when Warne returned. It has also happened to batsmen. Was that politics?

Yes. I too think Kaif has been very unlucky in this respect and i do believe that some players are more equal than the others in India due to their glamour but that includes Yuvraj, probably at the top of the list. He is the media's darling, fans love him and he has very powerful backers (even if we dont get into the argument about how talented he is) and yet he has played only 23 Test matches. Surely an average of 32.8 PLUS all these other factors I mentioned in the preceding sentence PLUS a hint of politics should have seen him play more. Was it politics that kept him out or that made him play even the 23 Tests that he did?

 

[Pratters]

No one can deny that The senior Indian players are approaching the end of their careers but that does not mean they can be replaced en masse. The impression that is given, not said by everyone though, is that they are playing when they do not deserve a place in the side. This is not correct. And disproven by their performance as well as that of those youngsters given the chance to represent India in recent times.

That they will all eventually go is undeniable as is the fact that many youngsters have been tried and not many have shown consistency as shown by these guys. The problem for India is serious. These seniors are continuing not just because they are so good but also because the youngsters coming in havent shown any great consistency.

I see so many people suddenly jumping on the "bring in Viraat Kohli" band wagon. I do hope and pray that this boy from my home town is a future India champion but really, isn't it a bit early to jump to conclusions about how great a player he is. How many people here thought so greatly f him even 12 months ago. So its early days. Dont just jump up and form proclaim a champion every time a 20 year old scores a hundred.

Coming back to the seniors. Ganguly is going and it is not too early. Ganguly has played enough cricket. 110 Tests for someone who averages 41 and plays as a pure batsman is a hell of a lot. In the entire history of the game only two batsmen (pure batsmen) have played more Tests - Atherton (115) and Fleming (111). Of these Atherton was a further specialist being an opener. If he was a middle order batsman, then with his record he might have played a few matches less I guess. Both Atherton and Fleming were superb specialist fielders too unlike Ganguly.

So Ganguly hasn't been hard done by selectors and he is going at a good time for him.

Kumble has to go. His time has come. Nothing to do with age again (as with Ganguly). Its his performance. He is not the force he was and has surely become more predictable. It was not common to see players who played him for the very first time, and on sub-continental wickets, not to be completely at sea. He will still get the odd good haul but that's because he isn't going to forget his art. Its just that he has been worked out fairly well and he has lost his nip.

That leaves Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman. I suspect they will go out in this order - Laxman, Tendulkar and last of all Dravid. For India to lose all of them (after Ganguly) would be disastrous and we are never going to find four batsmen to replace them in a hurry.

Remember Yuvraj as a youngster was far more talented than any of the boys being championed today and he is still not able to command a permanent place - and he has PLENTY of backers in India's cricket establishment so it isnt for anything but cricketing reasons.

Ganguly this year and one more batsman next year and another the year after is what we should ideally be looking at. I feel that while Sachin is still a batsman fully deserving of his place in the side, he is not enjoying his cricket. He has denied that but it doesn't look like it. His concentration is failing far too often. He is starting well again and again and still falls to an error of judgement. I don't think the Sachin of old would not have seen the slower delivery that got him yesterday. Earlier he would have either seen it early and adjusted the speed of his bat and played late or having seen it late, decided to go through the shot to send it like a rocket to the fielder and probably survive. What he did was uncharacteristic. He saw the slower one, he did see it, and then checked his shot from a drive to a defensive push thereby committing virtual hara-kiri.

There have been other examples recently particularly in Sri Lanka where in at least the first three innings he started off as if Mendis was no issue and playing superbly and yet fell to soft dismissals. What's worse, this seemed to shake him up and in the latter part of the series he did not even start the innings as fluently as he was doing in the earlier part. This is not Sachin Tendulkar.

So my point is that while he is still a very fine batsman, with Dravid and Sehwag, one of the three best Test batsmen in India even today, he is not mentally right there and he will have to give up the ambition of a 100 international centuries which, I suspect is his only motivation today.

But, I repeat, he deserves to be in this side purely as a batsman without any doubt.

Laxman has a different problem. His game is purely based great eyes and great hands and great co-ordination between them. When your game is based on a rock solid technique as with Gavaskar, Dravid and even Sachin, you can go on much longer defying the tell tale signs of age but when it is not, as in the case of Laxman, the end comes quickly. People always wonder why Vishwanath went so quickly in about a season or so. The reasons are similar. I suspect Laxman is losing his special ability. I hope he proves me wrong. The strokes still look beautiful when he makes them but the frequency is far less. Thats why I said he may go before Sachin

Dravid, with his technique and with his very strong mental faculties will last the longest. The only thing that can and will unhinge him is mistreatment. He is ultra-sensitive. Not surprising for someone who gives so much of himself. If there is one cricketer who has given of himself so completely without holding back and without personal considerations, it is Rahul Dravid. India needs to handle him with the respect and sensitivity he deserves. Do that and he will score more runs in the next few years than anyone else, still. He has the game and the temprament to do it.

Agree that Laxman looks like the first to go from Dravid, Laxman and Tendulkar. Dravid and Tendulkar on the other hand have a fair bit of cricket left in them still -1-3 years.