***Official Australia in India***

[aussie]

My thought of the day

WHERE WAS THE REVERSE SWING???????

Plus this Krezja bloke, must be really bad if he couldn't convince the selectors he was worth a pick in this test over White.

As i said before the test, Australia might as well fake security worries because and fly home because this is getting worse that 1998 now.

 

[pasag]

Yesterday was so depressing. Started off so well and then....bloody hell.

Aus to be 4 down at stumps today.

 

[Johnners]

The Aussie media suck, my thoughts on Conn, Dorries, etc. are well-documented. But the above is ridiculous.

Haha AWTA. By the way some people are carrying on though you'd think that they're the only reporters to ever show bias for their home country

 

[silentstriker]

Yesterday was so depressing. Started off so well and then....bloody hell.

Aus to be 4 down at stumps today.

India all out for 320, and Aussies 240/4?

 

[Top_Cat]

India all out for 320, and Aussies 240/4?

 

[Burgey]

Yesterday was so depressing. Started off so well and then....bloody hell.

Aus to be 4 down at stumps today.

Thought for the most part we bowled ok. Lee and Clark were good (much better than last week anyway). The problem is the third quick more than the spinner. By that I mean to succeed consistently, a quality third quick will help more than a quality spinner (Not including champions like Warne, but comparing to reasonable rather than great spinners).

When the new ball bowlers have a spell, the pressure just seems to get lifted. Watson was decent enough early, but the period after tea when he & Johnson bowled together was complete meh.

 

[Precambrian]

Clark was superb. He kind of dominated almost every batsman. Gambhir had a few lucky moments against him, including an edge that almost carried to Hayden. Expect him to pick a 4 for or a 5 for today.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Yeah Clark is probably the only shining light to come out of yesterday for Australia. He was really disappointing in the first test given that the pitch suited him pretty well, but bowled very well yesterday.

Anyway, I'd expect India to make it to tea or so today, at least. Australia aren't out of it yet but it'll take a pretty big turnaround today.

 

[Jono]

Still calling for Chopra's inclusion SilentStriker?

 

[Top_Cat]

Yes he is but only to jinx him so he doesn't get selected and the bloke selected does well. Going to plan so far, SS!

 

[gettingbetter]

Still calling for Chopra's inclusion SilentStriker?

Aww, thats a bit unfair. I think the main reason people advocate Chopra is that he would be a good foil for Sehwag. Gambhir, in the last 18-24 months has taken his game to the 'next' level in all formats of the game.

 

[Johnners]

One for those who have a greater knowledge of cricket in India. If Dravid were dropped, who would be the likely replacement? Badrinath? and would he bat at 3?

 

[Vroomfondel]

One for those who have a greater knowledge of cricket in India. If Dravid were dropped, who would be the likely replacement? Badrinath? and would he bat at 3?

I think Lax is a natural choice for No. 3 if Dravid is dropped. With Badri at 6.

But Dravid was looking good. It's only a matter of time for him...

 

[IndGunner]

One for those who have a greater knowledge of cricket in India. If Dravid were dropped, who would be the likely replacement? Badrinath? and would he bat at 3?

well i think badrinath would be coming in for ganguly most likely maybe rohit sharma for Dravid, i dont think yuvraj can make it into the team now and uthappa is obviously not suited for the test matches who else is there?

other choice for 3rd would be Raina i guess..

Kaif doesnt seem to be able to get it right on the international level.

 

[IndGunner]

not that there is any need but does anyone know how irfan pathan and sreesanth are faring i heard something about sreesanth being dropped from his state side (kerala)? whats going on?

 

[Precambrian]

All this talk of hiring coaches and working on reverse swing has done Australia little good. They may as well understand the most basic tenet to survive and win in India : Have a good spinner. After that : Bowl right line and length. All this brouhaha about reverse swing etc looks humbag, I didnt notice an iota of reverse yesterday, despite the pitch being coarser than Ponting's face.

 

[IndGunner]

All this talk of hiring coaches and working on reverse swing has done Australia little good. They may as well understand the most basic tenet to survive and win in India : Have a good spinner. After that : Bowl right line and length. All this brouhaha about reverse swing etc looks humbag, I didnt notice an iota of reverse yesterday, despite the pitch being coarser than Ponting's face.

I disagree i think Aust got the ball to do a lot in the morning session everyone excluding Johnson was getting a bit of movement and Lee was getting some Reverse swing. Tbf i think this series has really highlighted pontings defiencies as a captain he has made a lot of tactical blunders. Lee needed to bowl more after lunch and Tea it is around that period u get reverse swing (30-50 overs) and the other problem is the bowlers they have are not used to producing reverse swing the rely on their pace (johnson, watson, Lee) and guile (Clark who bowled well) to get their wickets. Imo i think maybe a bracken would have been better suited to these conditions. It just shows when you lose your star players ponting really has no exact tactics to get wickets besides maybe intimadation because the field placings were quite sedate. His lack of faith in slips is frustrating...

 

[Sanz]

I can't see how the Indians can complain at Watson giving a few verbals, there was plenty at him when he was batting with Lee from Zaheer and Harbahjan. Enough that Zaheer felt the need to call Lee up to apologise, apparently.

Zaheer was fined 80% of match fee. Besides, I am not condoning Zaheer's behaviour. If Zaheer verbally abused Lee, then he should have been punished.

 

[Sanz]

Yes, I saw the elbow from Watson. However, it didn't actually hit, so I am not sure what can be done about that.

He was clearly the provocateur though. Just because his didn't hit Gambhir doesn't absolve him from what he did.

 

[Precambrian]

I disagree i think Aust got the ball to do a lot in the morning session everyone excluding Johnson was getting a bit of movement and Lee was getting some Reverse swing. Tbf i think this series has really highlighted pontings defiencies as a captain he has made a lot of tactical blunders. Lee needed to bowl more after lunch and Tea it is around that period u get reverse swing (30-50 overs) and the other problem is the bowlers they have are not used to producing reverse swing the rely on their pace (johnson, watson, Lee) and guile (Clark who bowled well) to get their wickets. Imo i think maybe a bracken would have been better suited to these conditions. It just shows when you lose your star players ponting really has no exact tactics to get wickets besides maybe intimadation because the field placings were quite sedate. His lack of faith in slips is frustrating...

Nah, it was the conventional swing that they were getting, owing to the conditions (foggy). Once the haze was off, the swing became nullified.