***Official Australia in India***

[inbox24]

Finally, some changes for Nagpur:

http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/indvaus2008/content/story/376706.html

But most likely will be the wrong changes.

 

[gettingbetter]

India too are in need for changes. With Sehwag bowling rather well, I think the 5 bowler theory will not be implemented. Obviously Kumble is out and I assume Bhaji will come back in - fitness permitting.

Also note, that Gambhir is as of this moment, suspended from the next Test.

 

[Johnners]

Assuming Bhaji is still injured for Nagpur, who would likely be his/Kumbles replacement?

 

[duffer]

If Bhajji is unavailable then Ojha would have to get a gig here right? Not sure about selecting him just yet. Fantastic prospect but throwing him into the deep end right now might ruin a fantastic future prospect for us.

Hopefully Harbhajan is fit and saves us from having to make that call.

EDIT: Would so love us to call Murali Kartik from the Windies just in case. Love that bloke.

 

[Precambrian]

If Bhajji is unavailable then Ojha would have to get a gig here right? Not sure about selecting him just yet. Fantastic prospect but throwing him into the deep end right now might ruin a fantastic future prospect for us.

Hopefully Harbhajan is fit and saves us from having to make that call.

EDIT: Would so love us to call Murali Kartik from the Windies just in case. Love that bloke.

Yeah he owned Australia on raging turners like Mumbai 04 and that ODI last year.

 

[morgieb]

Would call up Chawla if Bhajji was still injured.
Anyway, excellent effort for Australia to come back from the dead last match. Means we are a chance of claming the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

 

[howardj]

Aus can prattle on about getting the psychological advantage from this Test, I guess. However, for mine, we still don't look like getting 20 wickets.

 

[Precambrian]

Ponting repeats "We were the only ones pushing for victory" line from Bangalore. The no. of wickets taken by Australian bowlers have gone down : 14 in Blore, 13 at Mohali, 12 at Delhi.

 

[Top_Cat]

On day 5's evidence alone, he's right but then there's no way India could have won so putting up the shutters was fair enough, the Aussie bowlers aren't owed any favours so they had to bowl India out. Which goes to HJ's point; the lack of penetration is a worry. This is because, in keeping to my pre-series prediction, which ever side batted better would win and it took a pretty average batting performance from Australia for India to win (even with their fantastic bowling that Test, they needed some help from the Aussie batsmen).

Nagpur will be no different. The pitch will, again, be a road and the Aussies will need to continue to bat well but also up their wicket-rate with the ball. It's pretty amazing that this series is still somewhat 'live' up until the final Test. Pretty sure most predicted it would be all over by now, especially with the bowlers the Aussie have at their disposal. Certainly most series' in India, the last Test is usually a dead rubber.

 

[Precambrian]

On day 5's evidence alone, he's right but then there's no way India could have won so putting up the shutters was fair enough, the Aussie bowlers aren't owed any favours so they had to bowl India out. Which goes to HJ's point; the lack of penetration is a worry. This is because, in keeping to my pre-series prediction, which ever side batted better would win and it took a pretty average batting performance from Australia for India to win (even with their fantastic bowling that Test, they needed some help from the Aussie batsmen).

Nagpur will be no different. The pitch will, again, be a road and the Aussies will need to continue to bat well but also up their wicket-rate with the ball. It's pretty amazing that this series is still somewhat 'live' up until the final Test. Pretty sure most predicted it would be all over by now, especially with the bowlers the Aussie have at their disposal. Certainly most series' in India, the last Test is usually a dead rubber.

I don't think Ponting can take any comfort from this test regarding their bowling. If anything, it's gone only worse than last test. I couldn't believe he actually said Lee put up a good performance. Admittedly he got Sehwag twice, but that's the only balls he really looked like troubling the batsmen. And Clark, people compare him to McGrath, but in actuality he has got none of the subtleties of the great man. And Johnson picked upmost of his wickets due to luck and the batsmen's mistakes. The only bowler to have really said to improve despite lack of statistics was Watson.

Frankly, so far from what I have seen in this test series, this is the shoddiest bowling display put up by any team ever since I started following the game. I think Australia must thank the Indian fielders and expect them to continue their pathetic work in the next test too to stand any chance of drawing that game, let alone winning. I can't see a win for Australia at Nagpur unless our batsmen put up an extraordinary terrible batting display.

But, their batting has become somewhat better though. Hayden looks the unperturbed self that he used to be in 2001, and Ponting, Hussey and Clarke looks steady. That could be the only thing that gives Australia hopes in the last test. Ponting will be praying for a batting collapse by India.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Yeah, you're right, Australia's bowling attack is clearly "shoddier" than Bangladesh.

BTW, I don't think "we were the only ones pushing for victory" means "we had the better bowling attack", which is how you seem to interpret it. It's about approach, not success.

 

[silentstriker]

Why, last time there was a hint of juice on an Indian wicket, India were bowled out for nothing and lost by an innings and you were up in arms, right?

Yes, I was. Because I prefer dustbowls. That wicket was still miles and miles better than the wicket in the first Test.

I'd want to see Indian home conditions suit the Indian team, but I'd much rather see a good Test match. India don't do themselves any favors by preparing totally flat tracks. So basically:

Raging turners/dustbowls >> Suicide pitches with crazy bounce > Pitches with juice/any pitch with results >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Chennai Test vs. South Africa

 

[Precambrian]

BTW, Bangladesh = Sub-test level team, so doenst figure.

I agree that "Pushing for victory" means only that, but how does it make the Australian team any better? Any team in that position will be left with the Hobson's choice, "To try and bowl the other team out", or be left at the mercy of the batting team to make a sporting declaration. Here, the Indian team was lacking their strike bowler Kumble due to injury, so there was never a chance of the latter.

 

[Burgey]

I don't think Ponting can take any comfort from this test regarding their bowling. If anything, it's gone only worse than last test. I couldn't believe he actually said Lee put up a good performance. Admittedly he got Sehwag twice, but that's the only balls he really looked like troubling the batsmen. And Clark, people compare him to McGrath, but in actuality he has got none of the subtleties of the great man. And Johnson picked upmost of his wickets due to luck and the batsmen's mistakes. The only bowler to have really said to improve despite lack of statistics was Watson.

Frankly, so far from what I have seen in this test series, this is the shoddiest bowling display put up by any team ever since I started following the game. I think Australia must thank the Indian fielders and expect them to continue their pathetic work in the next test too to stand any chance of drawing that game, let alone winning. I can't see a win for Australia at Nagpur unless our batsmen put up an extraordinary terrible batting display.

But, their batting has become somewhat better though. Hayden looks the unperturbed self that he used to be in 2001, and Ponting, Hussey and Clarke looks steady. That could be the only thing that gives Australia hopes in the last test. Ponting will be praying for a batting collapse by India.

The bowling remains poor, of that there's no doubt. However, in this match it wasn't a lot worse than India's tbh. Zaheer and Ishant didn't get much out of the wicket either, while India's best bowler was Sehwag. Of course, Kumble's injury didn't help in that regard, nor HBS's injury.

I thought Lee's effort this match was better, not that he bowled a lot better, but his effort was there. He seems to be getting a bit better each innings so hopefully he'll be in something approaching best form next test. Given we have to win, it may be worth runnign with Bollinger in lieu of White. Although he didn't do much wrong and got 40 odd for us, we need to win at all costs.

 

[Johnners]

BTW, Bangladesh = Sub-test level team, so doenst figure.

I agree that "Pushing for victory" means only that, but how does it make the Australian team any better? Any team in that position will be left with the Hobson's choice, "To try and bowl the other team out", or be left at the mercy of the batting team to make a sporting declaration. Here, the Indian team was lacking their strike bowler Kumble due to injury, so there was never a chance of the latter.

No-one insinuated such a thing, so I really don't know what it is you're trying to argue here.

 

[Precambrian]

No-one insinuated such a thing, so I really don't know what it is you're trying to argue here.

Ponting did, which is obviously to claim the moral upperhand.

 

[Johnners]

He said only 1 team was trying to win on the final day, which was true enough, but nowhere did he state or insinuate the babble you're going on about.

 

[Top_Cat]

The bowling remains poor, of that there's no doubt. However, in this match it wasn't a lot worse than India's tbh. Zaheer and Ishant didn't get much out of the wicket either, while India's best bowler was Sehwag. Of course, Kumble's injury didn't help in that regard, nor HBS's injury.

I thought Lee's effort this match was better, not that he bowled a lot better, but his effort was there. He seems to be getting a bit better each innings so hopefully he'll be in something approaching best form next test. Given we have to win, it may be worth runnign with Bollinger in lieu of White. Although he didn't do much wrong and got 40 odd for us, we need to win at all costs.

Yeah exactly, Ponting hasn't said Lee bowled brilliantly at all, just that he looked more dangerous which he did. He's still putting everything together and might not by Nagpur but there's little doubt he looked more likely to take wickets.

Again, though, don't know why everyone's piling on the bowling. The pitches have been the pathetic part of the equation, the two best bowlers from either side have averaged 35, the rest much more. It's been a batsman's series for both sides, Aus's Mohali batting was not great and India's bowlers were good. This Test and the first, everyone has had to work damn hard for them and have long periods where they didn't look likely to take any.

Let's face it, the Aussie bowling overall has only been a little worse than India's in terms of stats and the respective positions in the series and figures back that up. The pitches have ensured the bat-dominated series we've seen and on just about any other pitches Lee, Clark, Zaheer and Sharma would have gotten decent figures. Just surprises me that the focus is all about the Aussie bowling when the Indian bowling has only been a little better.

 

[krkode]

Ponting did, which is obviously to claim the moral upperhand.

It's just mind games - you have to expect these things. The Indians have been doing it since the beginning of the series with the "never seen Australia play such defensive cricket" comments.

At the end of the day, only one team really needed the victory and I bet that was wallowing around in Ponting's head when he said that.

Sure India weren't able to squeeze a victory out of thin air the way Australia has done in the past but I think it's unreasonable for Ponting (or the Australians) to expect the Indians to play like the Australians do/have in the past. I read an article before this series that made a lot of sense to me - about how the Indians would try to go into this series not trying to emulate the Aussies but by bringing their own game to the pitch, and so far it's worked.

And losing after making 600+ in the first innings by making a risky declaration would be kind of embarrassing. Almost as embarrassing as losing after enforcing the follow on...

 

[silentstriker]

Loving moral victories by the Aussies! They can have them.