***Official*** India in Australia 2011/12

[Turbinator]

Stfu with the jinxes ****s. Ashwin has got this.

 

[Woodster]

India are in a very decent position imo, thanks to a gutsy innings so far from Dravid, a classy effort from Sachin and a fortunate but at times ferocious cameo from Sehwag.

Thought the Aussie quicks all had impressive spells at various times, Siddle's spell towards the end of the day was outstanding and as quick as his first. Lyon caused few problems, which was no great surprise on a second day pitch against players of Tendulkar and Dravid's undoubted quality in playing spin bowling.

Sehwag needed his luck today, a couple of spilled chances, tough for Hussey, think Haddin will be more disappointed with his drop, his bat was beaten on several occasions but there were also a number of his crunching drives that requires very minimal feet and just backs his outstanding eye. Dravid looked all at sea at different times of his innings, he quite easily made his way to 20, then had a wobble, find a bit more fluency then struggled again. It seemed a constant battle for him, but if anyone thrives in griding the runs out, Dravid does.

Was really enjoying watching Tendulkar though, some gorgeous strokeplay, his signature on-drive the pick of his shots for me. India certainly have the edge for me, but Australia will believe they can work themselves into the dominant position. Looks like a very interesting Test developing.

 

[Cruxdude]

India are in a very decent position imo, thanks to a gutsy innings so far from Dravid, a classy effort from Sachin and a fortunate but at times ferocious cameo from Sehwag.

Thought the Aussie quicks all had impressive spells at various times, Siddle's spell towards the end of the day was outstanding and as quick as his first. Lyon caused few problems, which was no great surprise on a second day pitch against players of Tendulkar and Dravid's undoubted quality in playing spin bowling.

Sehwag needed his luck today, a couple of spilled chances, tough for Hussey, think Haddin will be more disappointed with his drop, his bat was beaten on several occasions but there were also a number of his crunching drives that requires very minimal feet and just backs his outstanding eye. Dravid looked all at sea at different times of his innings, he quite easily made his way to 20, then had a wobble, find a bit more fluency then struggled again. It seemed a constant battle for him, but if anyone thrives in griding the runs out, Dravid does.

Was really enjoying watching Tendulkar though, some gorgeous strokeplay, his signature on-drive the pick of his shots for me. India certainly have the edge for me, but Australia will believe they can work themselves into the dominant position. Looks like a very interesting Test developing.

Dravid's innings was indeed a struggle. As you said for his first 20 or so runs he resembled a real wall. Don't remember him getting beaten until well in to his innings. And suddenly he was all at sea. Pattinson was excellent against him especially. I was more worried about him surviving till end of play when out of the blue Sachin got out.

India is ahead but not by a big deal. Kind of see us getting a lead but not beyond 50 runs.

 

[Woodster]

Dravid's innings was indeed a struggle. As you said for his first 20 or so runs he resembled a real wall. Don't remember him getting beaten until well in to his innings. And suddenly he was all at sea. Pattinson was excellent against him especially. I was more worried about him surviving till end of play when out of the blue Sachin got out.

India is ahead but not by a big deal. Kind of see us getting a lead but not beyond 50 runs.

His defence looked inpenetratable at times with everything moving nicely, then his feet would become stuck for a period and he would just throw his hands at a few outside the off stump. It was a real test for him, but he must love working hard for his runs.

 

[Vroomfondel]

I thought Aus were unlucky. IMO, they bowled much better than India (bar Zak) and if they had conditions like Indian bowlers had on Day 1, India would have struggled. Even in these conditions, 200/5 would have been possible on another day.

Yadav and Ishant need to learn something from the lengths bowled by the Aussies. Part of the reason Ishant has looked so unlucky is that he's beating the bat from short of a length. By the time it's at the bat, the ball has deviated way too far to take an edge. And there's no chance of lbw or bowled either.

 

[R_D]

Another great day at cricket.. Sachin was brilliant, played some gorgeous shots and Dravid's still there.. he grinded out his innings. Pattinson looked very dangerous throughout the day. There was one epic over.. I have no idea how Dravid survived that over... Siddle's last spell was superb... he was really fired up after the no ball incident. All in all a great days' play, It would have been a perfect days play if Sachin had remained not out though.
The Best moments of the day.. the camera guy falling and the cheer after the no ball was declared.... The cheer was loud as the cheer by the aussie fans when Siddle bowled Dravid. Funniest moment
Saw the weirdest things... Greg Chappell going towards the Indian supporters.... The Swamy army whatever they are called....I was kind of expecting him to get booed by Indian supporters but they didn't actually. My theory is if Sachin wasn't batting than someone would have slapped him .. No one wants to get evicted from the venue when Sachin is batting.

India in better position as of now but really need to capitalise on the solid platform set by Sachin, Sehwag and Dravid. Lets hope Laxman and Dravid form another one of their epic partnerships. Although If Pattinson gets on a roll in the morning and with new ball not too far away.. wouldn't be surprised to see India get bundled out for around 350 runs.

 

[Daemon]

India is ahead at the moment although if Siddle and Pattinson can bowl the way they did then it's not hard to imagine Australia taking a lead.

 

[howardj]

Unless Harris and Watson (or another decent fifth bowler) return to the bowling crease, we're screwed. There is no way this attack is going to take 20 wickets this Summer. On the positive side though, Pattinson has been very impressive.

The first session today is crucial. Unless we make some inroads, I can see our frail batting really being put under the blowtorch tomorrow.

 

[silentstriker]

Under the blowtorch...by India? Somehow that's unlikely .

 

[silentstriker]

There's a massive difference between saying that, and saying that India aren't in a great position.

No there isn't. I didn't say no one would be in a great position but India really don't have it to take advantage considering both sehwag and tendulkar are gome so therefore they aren't in a great position.

 

[Beleg]

howardj,

you're being very harsh. you've got some great bowlers who were extremely unlucky not to clean up yesterday. the standard of cricket was pretty high which is something that cannot be said when the australian batsmen and indian bowlers were on the field

 

[Sylvester]

Hilfy was suppose to be the bowler that could keep it tight and bowl long spells. He ended up doing neither. It was like we had Johnson in the side minus the waywardness but still ended up leaking runs like him. This is where Copeland more than likely would have taken out the need for an all rounder. But there is always that question if he can take wickets with his pace. So the next closest would be Hazlewood.

 

[Beleg]

No there isn't. I didn't say no one would be in a great position but India really don't have it to take advantage considering both sehwag and tendulkar are gome so therefore they aren't in a great position.

are you taking the piss? india's got 7 wickets in hand and they're trailing by around 100'ish runs - they're definitely in the driving seat. they might surrender the advantage but having seven wickets in hand with at least three recognised batsmen waiting in the wings effectively cements that advantage

 

[Burgey]

Watched most of the test match today (around when both Dravid and Tendulkar were in the 50s). Sucks that Tend got out.

Pattinson is a seriously impressive bowler, where has he been? Also it seems like Hilfy and Siddle really lack teh bite. Seems like Siddle got better as the game wore on though.

Scratchy innings from Sehwag and Gambhir is in **** form. We don't really have anyone else better to replace them tho lol.

Also just a small note on the Indian bowling. I think we should drop Ishant Sharma. He's been in the team on "potential" for far too long. He pretty much just bowls straight now. It seems like he has no wicket taking deliveries.

He's 21, so the answer to the question as to where Pattinson had been is "at school".

 

[Burgey]

His defence looked inpenetratable at times with everything moving nicely, then his feet would become stuck for a period and he would just throw his hands at a few outside the off stump. It was a real test for him, but he must love working hard for his runs.

He was suffering from cramp in the last session tbf to him.

 

[Burgey]

howardj,

you're being very harsh. you've got some great bowlers who were extremely unlucky not to clean up yesterday. the standard of cricket was pretty high which is something that cannot be said when the australian batsmen and indian bowlers were on the field

Generally I agree with you, but the hour or so after tea was like watching last year's Ashes all over again.

 

[Furball]

He was suffering from cramp in the last session tbf to him.

Dravid in the last 6 months has had an awfully handy habit of either being rock solid when defending or leaving, combined with an inability to nick good balls in the corridor when his performance dips.

 

[Burgey]

Unless Harris and Watson (or another decent fifth bowler) return to the bowling crease, we're screwed. There is no way this attack is going to take 20 wickets this Summer. On the positive side though, Pattinson has been very impressive.

The first session today is crucial. Unless we make some inroads, I can see our frail batting really being put under the blowtorch tomorrow.

Reports this morning on the radio suggesting Watson may be out the whole series.

 

[GotSpin]

Oh goody

 

[Top_Cat]

****'s sake, people saying India aren't in front are surely taking the piss/haven't seen a Test in Australia.

3/200-odd in response to a sub-400 score, you're in front.