*Official* India in Australia Thread

[the_indian_fan]

great performance by india

284/3

nice to c sachin f-india-ng his form back. lets hope he converts this into a 200. only 127 runs left to go.

come on sachin, u can do it.

also would like to c a big 100 from laxman as well.

i expect laxman to make that 381 in this innings and india to make 972 all out.

 

[V Reddy]

I draw you attention here




India 'can be number one'


India captain Sourav Ganguly said his side's historic Test win against Australia in Adelaide could be a stepping stone to greater things.
"I said before that we are the second best side in the world," said Ganguly after Australia were beaten by four wickets on Tuesday.

"But if we can win this series then we definitely can be number one."

"This was our Test. I think we played better than them in the last three days of the Test and deserved to win."

It was the first time in 22 years India had won a Test in Australia and only their seventh victory in the last 69 matches away from home.

Ganguly is well aware of that fact.

He went on: "We are almost unbeatable at home but we haven't played well overseas."

They may not look like it from the outside but they're pretty tough characters

Sourav Ganguly

"We've started to play well over the last two years but we also knew we had to do something special to beat this side [Australia]."

India seemed to have no hope of winning the match after Australia racked up a daunting first innings of 556 before reducing the tourists to 85-4.

But they turned the match around with a 303-run partnership by vice-captain Rahul Dravid (233) and VVS Laxman to get within 33 runs of Australia before Ajit Agarkar took 6-41 to skittle the home team for 196.

Ganguly added: "There are some characters in the side, they may not look like it from the outside but they're pretty tough characters."

Ganguly expects the Australians to respond with some tough cricket of their own.

"We have to lift our game, this is a four-Test series not a three-Test series," he said.

"We know that they're going to come hard at us but also we know that we can beat them."

India, in a similarly unlikely performance, came back from the dead to win the second Test at home two years ago before taking the series 2-1.

Rich, i want to draw your attention to this article

quote:
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After his team drew the three-day match against Australia 'A' in Hobart on Sunday, Ganguly said his comments were indicative of where India was aiming, not where it would be.

"We're not number one, that's for sure because the number one team is Australia," Ganguly said on Sunday when pressed on the issue.

"I don't know what people have understood when I said we wanted to be at the top because any side should look to be the best. I hope one day we can be number one. I never said that (the series) had the number one tag - I'm not stupid enough to do that and if people read between lines I can't help that."

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[V Reddy]

Good report, Sangrah.

10 overs of the new ball have been bowled out already and so these need to see out another 10 overs. I also think the tail enders would fare better in this innings as the new players can bat a bit and they would be coming in to bat with the old ball ( hopefully) .

Btw, where did Chopra 4 times lucky come about? One was the no-ball , catch drop and one in which Gilly did not appeal. I can't seem to remember the other one.To counter cbreban , the decisions which went in India's favour today are minute when compared to the ones Aus got in previous tests :P

 

[Craig]

great performance by india

284/3

nice to c sachin f-india-ng his form back. lets hope he converts this into a 200. only 127 runs left to go.

come on sachin, u can do it.

also would like to c a big 100 from laxman as well.

i expect laxman to make that 381 in this innings and india to make 972 all out.

Score 688 runs in one day?

You're living in fantsay land Amit. Laxman has a a chance of a big hundred, 381, sorry no chance.

 

[MZ_RPFC]

Tendulkar still isnt anywhere near himself. He almost edged MacGill on about 5 occasions, Thats not like him. Hopefully the aussies can break this partnership early and get on top. I think we can bowl them out for under 400.

 

[the_indian_fan]

Score 688 runs in one day?

You're living in fantsay land Amit. Laxman has a a chance of a big hundred, 381, sorry no chance.

i never meant 688 runs in a day. 972 isnt possible. i expect india to be all out for something like 620 in the final session tommorow. (336 runs in 5-5:30 hours is possible)

i had said that before the series that laxman will hit a 381 in this series, but i agree with u. no chance of a 381 for him in this innings. he might hit a big 100, but no 381.

also a sachin 200 is possible enough as he is f-india-ng his form back.

 

[CDAK]

Tendulkar still isnt anywhere near himself. He almost edged MacGill on about 5 occasions, Thats not like him. Hopefully the aussies can break this partnership early and get on top. I think we can bowl them out for under 400.

I too felt the same. But even then I don't feel he had any problem with McGill's bowling. The only problem is his varying concentration and tha's what happened in lee's over( also he tried to be more defensive. )

 

[mustang]

I rarely ever do this, but Australia is gonna win the Sydney test also! Wait and Watch , call it hunch - even Buchanan and Hayden think Oz is gonna win the Sydney test !!! :P

Farwell Tugga!


" Aussies remain upbeat"

"Australia remain confident of wrapping up a series win over India despite a return to form by Sachin Tendulkar. "When you're averaging close to 60 and you've missed out for five or six innings, the law of averages suggests there's a big one somewhere in the mix," said Aussie coach John Buchanan.

"I wouldn't say he has accumulated the runs in the best fashion but he's still there and weathered the storm."

Australia levelled the series by winning the third Test in Melbourne.

And Buchanan thinks his side can repeat that feat in Sydney.

"It's a little bit of a carbon copy of the Boxing Day Test," he said.

"We turned that around the next day and that's what we'll be hoping to do tomorrow." Australians of course find it highly amusing to find so many of their countrymen in the enemy camp. There's Andrew Leipus, who is almost indispensable, there's Bruce Reid, who is also Nathan Bracken's coach, and there's Greg Chappell, who helped organise Sourav Ganguly's mind. Sandy Gordon who is Team India's mentor. "At this rate," said an Australian supporter, "you will have a few Australian players in the team four years later." Is Steve Waugh looking for a career after retiring from the Baggy Green?
:saint: :saint: :saint:

 

[V Reddy]

even Buchanan and Hayden think Oz is gonna win the Sydney test !!! :P

I think that is obvious :rolleyes: especially after what happ in the 3rd test. India has got to play the same type of cricket for the next 4 days, then only they have a chance of winning. But it will be tough with India havig a second string attack . Srinath , Zaheer , Nehra and Harbhajan were expected to form the bowling lineup in Aus before the series started but they are all out now :wow: . It is great chance for bowlers like Kartik and Pathan and they have the talent to do well too. If India has to win the series, then it depends on them. So a great chance for them.

 

[CDAK]

"It's a little bit of a carbon copy of the Boxing Day Test," he said.

"We turned that around the next day and that's what we'll be hoping to do tomorrow."

Chances are there for repeating the last test if Sachin is getting out early( otherwise, reverse thing can also happen)

Australians of course find it highly amusing to find so many of their countrymen in the enemy camp. There's Andrew Leipus, who is almost indispensable, there's Bruce Reid, who is also Nathan Bracken's coach, and there's Greg Chappell, who helped organise Sourav Ganguly's mind. Sandy Gordon who is Team India's mentor. "At this rate," said an Australian supporter, "you will have a few Australian players in the team four years later." Is Steve Waugh looking for a career after retiring from the Baggy Green?
:saint: :saint: :saint: [/B]

No doubt that the australians are those among the best sports professionals.Be proud of it. and we Indians will appreaciate and accept goodthings from anyone.
Anyway, Steve is going to proceed with his charity work in India.So I may not be surprised if the BCCI authorities ask steve's assistance later (wright is doing a good job now, currently no chance of replacement)

 

[ReallyCrazy]

Well done by India. They are certainly on top after the first day. But they can't get complacent. In both the previous tests, the sides which dominated on the first day went on to lose the match. In Adelaide, Australia actually had one bad hour and lost and in Melbourne, India has one bad hour and lost.

284 runs in a day is not that good though. I think its a little slow. The session after lunch was pretty dry for them.

Good to see Tendulkar among the runs. I hope he can get a century. He is nowhere near his best. I have seen him play 100 times better...

What do you guys think is a good first innings score on this wicket? I think India should score atleast 450.

 

[krkode]

Y'know, that's the thing with Tendulkar. He can be in the worst form possible and still score a relatively big knock.:P

 

[marc71178]

Lose would be disappointing considering the excellent performances in the first 2 tests.

They were excellent in parts, but definitely not excellent throughout!

 

[marc71178]

Is it just me or Chopra really *****es you off? He is too defensive in my opinion.

Last time I checked a Test lasted for 5 days, not 5 minutes.

 

[marc71178]

The way its going for the aussies I can see the next wicket: Lee bowls Sehwag and the bails dont fall off:O :rolleyes:

Which wouldn't be a wicket since the bails need to be dislodged.

 

[marc71178]

I think one of the commentary team just hit the nail on the head here, he doesn't have enough strokes. He is a great batsman for knuckling down and digging in for the long hual and will get you through the first hour or so when the ball is doing things...

Sounds exactly like another Indian opener who was harshly treated IMO, and whose medium pace was a valuable bowling option, especially when the side only takes 2 seamers into the game.

 

[marc71178]

Though those 2 caught behind decisions could cost Australia the series!

Have to be fair, I've said this to countless whinging Indians about umpire bias and mistakes. They tend to even themselves out, so quit it!

Then all of the sudden India will be labled the best team in the world. Which in my opinion isnt right!

Of course it isn't. NSW quite clearly are the best, followed by Australia A, Australia U19s, Australia women, ...

 

[Salamuddin]

There was absolutely no way Chopra feathered one to Gilchrist.
YOu only had to look at Giklchrist's reaction to see that it wasn't a nick.

So sorry Chris Breban, that wasn't bad luck for Australia.

And dropped ctaches are not due to bad luck, they are due to not being good enough.
Katich got into an awful position trying to catch that.

 

[Rik]

Sounds exactly like another Indian opener who was harshly treated IMO, and whose medium pace was a valuable bowling option, especially when the side only takes 2 seamers into the game.

Ahhh yes Sanjay Bangar, the guy who scored so slowly that he touched 28 runs per 100 balls. In order to make a 150 he would have to bat half a Test match. He just scored too slowly. If India wanted a solid opener then SS Das hasn't really done much wrong, much less than Bangar...

 

[mustang]

And dropped ctaches are not due to bad luck, they are due to not being good enough.

Speaking of dropped catches, this is what cricinfo said -

"When great cricket teams are in decline, it is said, it's their catching that goes first. The West Indians plucked catches from the moon when they ruled world cricket in the '80s, but their catching deteriorated proportionately to their fall from grace, and it reached a point where their ageing bowlers had to get their opposition out about 25 times an innings to capture 10 wickets. Australia haven't plumbed such depths yet, but it will suffice to say that they have dropped more than three times the number of catches that the Indians have, and the irony wasn't lost on Sourav Ganguly, who used it tellingly to deflect a question at the pre-Test press conference about his poor ground-fielding: "They have dropped more catches than we have."

:alien8: :alien8: :alien8: :alien8: :alien8: :alien8: