JBH001
International Regular
I will take your word for it. I have not seen much of Tait, apart from a few good ODI performances, but I was very unimpressed by his test bowling in this match. I really cant blame Ponting for not bowling him much because he never looked like he had much to offer. Also, the good ODI bowling I saw from him was against NZ, iirc, the Lankans belted him around a bit when he played against them. So, thus far, I think him over-rated and over-hyped. But perhaps he will prove me wrong.I feel desperately sorry for Tait - here he is bowling great early in the season, they pick him as 12th man (no drama there per se) then keep him around the team doing no meaningful bowling for 6 weeks before getting called up. No lessons learned here from the Bichel/ Kaspa/ Lee mistakes in the past. He should miss out for Hogg in Adelaide, but I frankly have no more idea as to whether he's a test prospect now than I did four days ago, as his chances of producing his best at that level is severely limited by his being picked with no work under his belt.
Yeah. It really came down to two crucial partnerships in two different innings. The first between Sachin and Dravid in the first innings, and the second between Laxman and Singh in the second. The first set the game up for India, and the second decided it. Just sensible and considered batting in both partnerships.The problem in this test was, as almost everyone here has said through the match, the 1st innings batting. Aside from that it was a line ball test match. India bowled very well in the first innings and full credit to them. The real difference was, however, that Tendulkar and Dravid selected their shots much better than our upper and middle orders did. I thought India's 1st innings bowling shaded ours, but it was not like it was many times better. Rather, their batsmen responded better to the challenge better than ours did. It proved a crucial difference.
Saw his post match interview too, and thought his comments graceful and well considered. Top stuff from him.The media are big time lookign for controversy after the game. I heard Ponting on ABC being asked about whether, after Sydney, he considered the Indian celebrations today OTT. He handled it perfectly - said no way - people don't realise how much hard work it is to win a test, and they can celebrate any way they want. He said thee was nothing wrong with the celebration, but that "No doubt someone int he media will try and make something out of it" Then he finished with a cracker "I always say that winners have a celebrations, losers usually have a meeting. I'm off to a meeting". Was very well handled.
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