***Official Australia in India***

[social]

hopefully, this will probably be India's worst batting performance in the series and if OZ couldn't close them here then it's highly unlikely that they will in the other games

the positive is that of the top 6, only one got a 50 in the game, so I am hoping that things would improve whether it be by the current players playing well or new ones coming in

and if better spinners come in to the side then the OZ batting will struggle more

the test was competitive mainly because its was best of OZ vs worst of India, the moment it becomes a contest b/w best of both teams, there would be one winner, i.e. Ind

The problem with your logic is that the team will have to fail (in other words, get beaten) in order for the selectors to change it for the better

 

[ret]

The problem with your logic is that the team will have to fail (in other words, get beaten) in order for the selectors to change it for the better

yep and with one more test to go at Mohali with the current squad, i think OZ can at best be at 1-0 .... Delhi is a happy hunting ground for India and hopefully Nagpur will get a turner

and keep in mind that of the next 3 tests, if Ind wins 2 tosses in them then the work for OZ is cut out even if its Kumble and Bhajji bowling!!!!

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

depite all the short comings that you described, Ind still managed to do well .... which shows that if the guys improve or bring in other options in the line up then there is only one team that looks good to win the series, i.e. India

the best of OZ = the worst of Ind .... and the series has just begun

I know you're just shamelessly trolling, but this is silly. Australia had a pretty good test but there's no reason to believe that it was "the best" of Australia, nor is a game in which India's pacemen bowled very well and they saved a test on the final day with minimal difficulty "the worst" of India.

Both teams have positives to take away from the match, but Australia did have the best of it, especially when you consider that India's tail essentially rescued them from a pretty bad situation. The main positive for India is simply that they avoided going down 1-0, given the way the test played out. That's nice and all, but it's not what they would have been hoping for before the series started.

 

[Woodster]

Sachin looked in very good touch in both innings before he got out,which was due to his mistake more than anything else.Say what you will but considering that Indians are slow starters(they are most vulnerable in the early stages of a series),things will get tougher for Aussies.Also,more than anything the performance of the Indian batsmen against Mendis was an exception,well as long as Aus come up with a Mendis,anyhow.

I agree that Sachin looked in decent nick in both innings and I will be surprised if he doesn't have a big say in this series. He may not have played his strokes as freely in this Test, perhaps due to the situation, how the pitch played, or a generally more watchful nature he has now. But he is definitely still a big player for India.

 

[ret]

I know you're just shamelessly trolling, but this is silly. Australia had a pretty good test but there's no reason to believe that it was "the best" of Australia, nor is a game in which India's pacemen bowled very well and they saved a test on the final day with minimal difficulty "the worst" of India.

Both teams have positives to take away from the match, but Australia did have the best of it, especially when you consider that India's tail essentially rescued them from a pretty bad situation. The main positive for India is simply that they avoided going down 1-0, given the way the test played out. That's nice and all, but it's not what they would have been hoping for before the series started.

i don't like such posts and posters .... do you really understand whats being implied?

 

[Lambu]

Interesting reactions from the Indian fans here considering that this was a pretty typical Indian pitch and should play to their strengths

IMO, about the only positives that India can take out of this game are the performances of their seam bowlers and the fact that they didnt lose

Unfortunately, the captain is dead man walking, batting didnt do much to disprove the theory that they're past it, keeper continues to disappoint with the bat, spinners were toothless and ground fielding was exposed more often than not

Australia can take huge confidence out of this game and know that there was basically only one team in it from around lunch on day one and that's unlikely to change unless dustbowls are ordered

You make quite a few assumptions there.We definitely did see Sachin(who looked good even in the first innings) and Laxman get into their touch,didn't we?Ganguly did well in 1st innings and was undefeated in the 2nd.You and the aussies in general need to understand that the Indian performance against Mendis doesn't automatically prove our batsmen are past it,ok?

Simply put,keeping the conditions in mind,what is more probablistic?
>India spinners coming with a better performance?
>or the asussie attack doing better than this?(although i thought they did everything they could have hoped to..conditions don't favor them)

You would have to be really blind to not notice how ineffective aussie pacers were in the 2nd innings.

 

[Woodster]

Australia will take more positives from this game than India. Mitchell Johnson eased one or two fears about his position in the side with a pretty good showing. Bowled good pace in good areas with an intelligent slower ball. Ponting and Hussey demonstrated they have the game to be successful on these kind of tracks, big confidence builder for the skipper. The batting on the whole was pretty disciplined, the running between the wickets certainly unsettled any rhythmn India were trying to build.

Clark I'm sure will play a much more prominent role in the next three Tests.

For India, as stated above, they will be really pleased the series is still 0-0 as they were 2nd best for a large portion of the Test. The two seamers were definitely a bright spot.

 

[Uppercut]

sure, 2 weeks? .... though i woudn't bother much with selecting an avatar for someone so may ask someone else to do that for me

Deal, if India win the series you choose mine for two weeks, if Oz win i choose yours. Drawn series no bet

 

[ret]

Deal, if India win the series you choose mine for two weeks, if Oz win i choose yours. Drawn series no bet

thats a deal, bud

 

[Lambu]

How is it that Australia after having won every single session of the test match(with the exception of 1) still don't win the match?

Also,if you any of you are fond of betting,don't count on the same performance from Kumble and co. again.Afterall, the guy averaged a mere 21 against aussies with over 100 wickets.If we had to go by this logic,we also have to accept that Stuart Clark is useless in these conditions and Brett lee is not likely to be more effective than this..and Indian batsmen won't chase the rubbish MJ feeds 10 inches outside the off-stump etc etc..

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

How is it that Australia after having won every single session of the test match(with the exception of 1) still don't win the match?

I wouldn't say Australia won every session bar one. I'd say Australia lost the final session on day 2, the final session on day 3, and the middle session on day 5. A few others were more or less even.

Australia did have the better of the match as a whole, but they didn't really capitalise. From having India 7 down and almost 200 behind to leaving them 299 to win in under a day is basically where the result was decided. And of course, Australia could have bowled better on the final day, but most of the credit goes to India's middle order, I'd say. Nevertheless, if India had been knocked over say 50 or 60 runs short of where they ended up, and Australia had been batting again by stumps on day 3, chances are there would have been four sessions in the field to push for the win instead of just under three, which would probably have been enough.

 

[Uppercut]

This is the problem i have with the arguements being here..

A guy with 600+ wickets failing to do anything in this match is a rule..while Clark,Lee and Johnson(2nd innings) failure to be effective despite them having played 1 test in these conditions is an exception..its always like this isn't it?Indians get owned by Mendis(who is gun spinner) in one series and suddenly people like Tendulkar,Laxman are suddenly hardly worth bothering,never mind what happened a year ago in Australia where he totally pwned the Aussies.Sachin looked in very good touch in both innings before he got out,which was due to his mistake more than anything else.Say what you will but considering that Indians are slow starters(they are most vulnerable in the early stages of a series),things will get tougher for Aussies.Also,more than anything the performance of the Indian batsmen against Mendis was an exception,well as long as Aus come up with a Mendis,anyhow.

I think it's fair to say that Dravid, Laxman, Tendulkar and Ganguly are all some way past their best. Looking at their averages over the past three years:

Ganguly averages 44, making him the 17th highest-averaging batsman in the world, followed by Laxman on 43, the 18th. Dravid is 24th with 41, while Tendulkar languishes in 29th with a mere 36, behind such players as Hashim Amla, Ian Bell and Kamran Akmal.

Compare to Australia's record over the past 3 years:
Hussey: 2nd with 68
Ponting: 3rd with 66
Hayden: 6th with 57
Clarke: 9th with 53

Apologies for getting so overly statistical, but they're definitely worth a look.

Edit: Fiddled with results, and on changing the query to over the past two years Laxman appears much improved (but still behind six Australians) and Dravid nosedives.

 

[ret]

the point to see is that despite playing such good cricket, Australia was not good enough to close India, which played poorly

for India, with one of the top 6 batsmen scoring a 50, the spinners coming out cropper, the fielding bad, captaincy poor [though nullified by Ponting's] .... you should be closing a team that plays such poor cricket

Now I do expect Australia to continue to play good cricket but I don't expect India to play such poor cricket. Indian team is inconsistent and B'lore was a prime example of this inconsistency. As I said this was more like Zak and Ishant vs Australia and still India pulled off a draw

As the series progresses, guys like Sehwag and Tendulkar are going to get going. After bad performances come good performances. One of two venues are going to support India's, which could also win a few tosses!!! Even the spinners will come up with one or two good spells even with the benefit of the pitch, which will hopefully give edge to India

Moreover if someone like Kumble is taken out of the series, India will benefit further by having the best captain on the field!!!

I have been sayin before the series that Australia will do well at Banglore but it failed to make that count. At Mohali and Nagpur it will depend on the surface. At Delhi, it will probably be India .... so with B'lore gone, Ind is better placed to get one or two tests out of the next 3 than Australia

just my 2 cents

 

[silentstriker]

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/indvaus2008/content/current/story/373830.html

Zaheer needs to shut his trap hole. Actions speak louder than words - win the series, then you can talk. Don't just fire people up randomly.

 

[lara84]

But australin team is easy to defet ,most of the peoples think like this , but its not easy its tuff world class players are in the ausse team,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
--------------------------------------------
Lara
sreevysh corp

 

[ret]

Ganguly averages 44, making him the 17th highest-averaging batsman in the world, followed by Laxman on 43, the 18th. Dravid is 24th with 41, while Tendulkar languishes in 29th with a mere 36, behind such players as Hashim Amla, Ian Bell and Kamran Akmal.

Apologies for getting so overly statistical, but they're definitely worth a look.

for Tendulkar to average 36 in this series so far, he will have to score 82 at Mohali .... I will take those 82 runs from Tendulkar at Mohalii

 

[Uppercut]

for Tendulkar to continue averaging 36, he will have to score 82 at Mohali .... I will take those 82 runs from Tendulkar in the first innings at Mohali

Think it supports the idea that Badrinath or Kaif (or anyone else) are long, long overdue a shot at tests though, no?

 

[silentstriker]

Last time India played at Mohali, they went in with three spinners. I hope that since Kumble is clearly carrying a shoulder injury that someone talks to him and he sits out.

Most likely, Mohali is a place to play two spinners, so maybe get in Chawla, or someone like that. Chawla can hold a bat too, so I'd go with:

1. Sehwag
2. Gambhir
3. Dravid
4. Tendulkar
5. Laxman
6. Dhoni
7. Chawla
8. Harbhajan
9. Zaheer
10. Sharma
11. Munaf

Munaf played last time here, and bowled extremely well too. He is a liability on the field, but I think we need three pace bowlers, and two spinners.

 

[abol_tabol]

It is advantage India. No doubt in my mind. My feeling is: Aussies missed a great chance and they may not get another opportunity like this again in this series.

India is notoriously poor starter in any series plus the Indian middle order will now play much more relaxed. And I'm hoping Kumble will not continue and Dhoni will be in charge. Kumble is not in form at the moment and Dhoni is much better captain. Besides, it'll give India an opportunity to include Munaf in the line-up.

Aussies came here one and half week earlier, got to work with Greg Chappell, they had a great batting line-up, they won the toss and batted first (huge advantage in my opinion) still there batting did not look very convincing to me, specially in the 2nd inning where India played with ONLY 3 bowlers! If Kumble was fit and in form, India actually could win the match.

Kudos to India for saving the match after losing the toss and playing with only 3 bowlers in the 2nd inning! Great stuff!

 

[Manee]

Where's Ishant?