"If the ball carries through well, Australia should win,"

[Nikhil]

Well that's what Michael Vaughan is apparently thinking about the Ind-Aus tour. SMH has the report here.

I think India will do ok even if the ball carries through. Infact, the new generation of batsmen (Sehwag, Yuvraj et. al.) like playing when the ball comes on the bat. Let's see how it goes. I think the pitches would be true, though with less bounce than the ones in Australia ofcourse. I don't expect any dead turners now.

[Rachael]

I don't think there's any question that the Aussies wil do BETTER if the ball carries through well. Not sure they will necessarily WIN.. but it would certainly maximise their opportunities.

The killer point, for me, is not that Hayden and Gilchrist need true-bouncing surfaces to really thrive and bat teams out of matches (though that certainly should nullify thier distinctiveness)).. or that McGrath and Kasprowicz (if not Gillespie) need a bit of bounce and carry to really tie down great strokeplayers.. but more that Warne relies on pace and bounce to be a strike bowler: if the pitches are slow and low then Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble will be fine.. as they can get dart the ball in a bit faster and get turn even at a gentle medium pace... but Warne, with his slower, loopier deliveries, will just have to trust that the batsmen are too cautious to use their feet and use the crease well.

With all that said: my prediction remains that the key men for the Aussies will be Martyn and Lehman. If they provide some real grit to the Aussie middle order then there should be some good totals for the bowlers to play with and the Indian home advantage will be of less significance.

[Beny]

Gee Nikhil,

You sure do get around... The Sydney Morrning Herald.

It's going to be a cracker of a contest (ohh my god i'm starting to sound English) no matter what the wicket is like. Especialy is Pathan is on song.

[Nikhil]

Originally Posted by Beny

Gee Nikhil,

You sure do get around... The Sydney Morrning Herald.

It's going to be a cracker of a contest (ohh my god i'm starting to sound English) no matter what the wicket is like. Especialy is Pathan is on song.

Haha. Beny, SMH is favourite Aussie newspaper, primarily for it's cricket coverage. That's almost all that I read there anyways.

Well, Sachin seems to be gaining some fitness. That's a good news from India's point of view. Hope he's fit for the first test. I think this series is going to be really really close. Aussie batsmen should do better than they did last time, and India have Kumble and Harbhajan together in good shape, which is again a good news. But I think India will win this series 2-1 with one match ending in a (very interesting) draw. That's all prediction and I usually am very bad at it .

[Beny]

Is'nt it a four test series?

[Nikhil]

Originally Posted by Beny

Is'nt it a four test series?

Yeah. India 2 - 1 Aus, 1 Draw.

[NZBeth]

Wow, that's optimistic. Why even give Australia one game? Why not dream up a whitewash. Just because they were outplayed by England during the ICC doesn't mean Australia are not a formidable team. They're still something to watch out for and as I recall India didn't really have a very good run during the ICC either. Infact, for a team I nominated as the 'dark horse' they didn't even make it to the semis. I wish them luck though-they always play a stylish game when they're on top

[Nikhil]

Yeps NZ.

Clearly optimistic, but quite confident at the same time. Expect the Indians to raise their game, especially batting.

Let's see how it goes.

[fair_&_balance]

Originally Posted by Nikhil

Well that's what Michael Vaughan is apparently thinking about the Ind-Aus tour. SMH has the report here.

I think India will do ok even if the ball carries through. Infact, the new generation of batsmen (Sehwag, Yuvraj et. al.) like playing when the ball comes on the bat. Let's see how it goes. I think the pitches would be true, though with less bounce than the ones in Australia ofcourse. I don't expect any dead turners now.

Apprently Ball is not carrying.Many times Patel got the ball below Knee.
So going bye Bevan's logic India is winning this one.