India v Australia: Third Test

[Mike Small]

Originally Posted by Nikhil

It's going to be difficult, but clearly possible.

As I write India are in hot water having lost half the side with just hundred odd on the board after Clarke got 91 and Aus managed 398. The Aussies might have a chance of inforcing the follow on here but I doubt they will, not many teams these days are too much of a fan of batting last.

Surely Aus have done enough in these opening two days to secure that elusive series win in India that has illuded them for so long - I can't for once see India coming back from this position to win this test match, or even draw it for that matter - their batsman look hopelessly out of form.

[The Great DonTalon]

Ia m currently seeing this 3rd test live and i really do have to tell you that from what i have seen Australia are way on top. India does not have what it takes to win against these guys and in that 2nd test even that would have been difficult. Sachin is whom i wanted to see but as i predicted he played across the ball for the umpttnth time and got out LBW. What india need is the long lost fast bowler even one will do..Zaheer and Nehra are not test class.

I honestly want IND to do well but they simply dont have the firepower to defeat these powerful men from down under.

[Maranello]

Originally Posted by Mike Small

Surely Aus have done enough in these opening two days to secure that elusive series win in India that has illuded them for so long - I can't for once see India coming back from this position to win this test match, or even draw it for that matter - their batsman look hopelessly out of form.

India close the day at 146/5, and the top 5 batsmen all out. McGrath with figures of 20-12-18-2.

So a minor miracle is needed to save the game now, with three full days remaining.

Don, agree that India do not have the fast bowling fire power, but what hurt them more in this Test is losing Harbhajan and then all the key batsmen being out of touch or getting out cheaply... Zaheer actually did a half-decent job for what he is.

[Shaka]

I think India's strength has traditionally been their batsmen, and they haven't delivered at all in this series. Blaming the bowlers is mis-directed IMO.

[Maranello]

Its interesting to note that cricinfo blames India's lacklustre batting display to a lack of attacking intent (here). So what Sehwag did (22 of 20 balls with 4 boundaries in one Gillespie over apparently) was good..what Chopra and Dravid et al did (ie stick around) was not...

I personally am not sure if swish-bang-wallop would have been the best way to put a big first innings score...and I don't think its a lack of stroke play that let India down in these series... more like lack of application or form? Would be interested to hear some views on this...

[Shaka]

Indian batsmen in the past have generally been far better at building innings than Pakistani ones, who Yoyo and Inzi apart are as likely to get out after scoring 50 runs as at the start of the innings due to the t6endency to play stupid flashy shots for no good reason.

I think maybe some credit has to be given to the Aussie pace bowlers, both Gillespie and McGrath seem to be back in prime form. Two very intelligent bowlers who rarely waste the new ball and can consistently put the ball in the right areas.

[Rachael]

I also read that.. and wondered.

To mind.. once India had {a} lost the toss; and {b} conceded a huge 1st innings total to Australia... winning needed to be put out of their mind: the series being what matters.. they needed to focus on still being in with a shout at the start of the NEXT Test.

Chopra's job is to see off the new ball... irrespective of runs.. and he gave it a go. That's what he does, it's what he was picked to do.. it's just that he's not as good at it as he needs to be. Dravid's not known as the immovable object for nothing: he was doing ever so well in that role as well... and would have been hailed a hero had he carried on doing so through to the close. Tendulkar has the class and temperament to do the same even if it's not his natural game: he didn't manage to mach Dravid today.. but that's the way the game goes sometimes.. doesn't mean he was wrong to try.

Those three should not be criticised for digging in as it's something they CAn and DO do well. Sehwag DIDN'T dig in (and rightly so: he's given no-one any indication he's capable of such feats): predictably he got a few and then got out. Laxman's a sensational guy for pushing the scoring along and a famous waste of space when that's not what is called for.. and in this situation he did his usual trick of not bothering to turn up.

I don't see anything shocking about the way today has gone... it's a by product of having a team in which one opener is not that great and the other bats like a superbly classy ODI pinch hitter.. one in form, top middle order batsman who can do anything, one guy who should really be out injured, and an aggressive no 6 pushed up a place to high due to his captain's absense and being shown up as one dimensional by an attack that was on song.

Maybe 3 times in 10 those same players would thrive under today's conditions... and 5 times in 10 they would have ridden their luck and got by.. but if you put that same line up out against that attack on a least a couple of occasions.

It's a bit like the Eng performance on the first Test against Sri Lanka last winter: we didn't do much wrong.. and if we'd done the same 10 times over then on 8 of those occasions we'd have got away with it.. but that day was one of those days that just happen in cricket where it just doesn't work out.

No big deal: that's why series are 4-5 Tests long!

[Maranello]

Excellent post Rachael, could not have put it better myself!

Dravid, Chopra and Sehwag played their natural game today... one can argue that none of the three were successful at it, though Dravid would probably be the most disappointed of the lot, and that's not just because he is the skipper.

Tendulkar played like the "new-Tendulkar"...which in some ways is Dravid-Lite....in his last 4 tests in particular (the Sydney test vs the Aussies and the 3 vs Pak), Tendulkar has played like a pure accumulator, and left out, in its entirely, all the flashy stroke play to Laxman, and more so to Sehwag, who is like the 18 year old Tendulkar in approach, though not in technique!
The fact that he was not fit today prob. contributed to the poor dismissal.

When things are not going their way, India are reliant heavily on Dravid at 3 (or in rarer cases, Tendulkar), since Laxman, Ganguly, Yuvraj and the rest are naturally aggressive batsmen who do not put as high a price on their wicket...

[Rachael]

There was a lovely comparison of Laxman and Kirsten on cricinfo when Kirsten retired... wish I could find it now. The obvious implication was that a truly complete player would be a blend of the two... which is, I guess.. what Dravid and Tendulkar might claim to be.

The trouble with playing guys like Sehwag and Laxman is that you're playing the odds: you're trusting that with such talent on display.. someone (and ideally more than one) will always fire so spectacularly that runs on the board are guaranteed. Works much of the time.. and most especially when it doesn't really matter (where any old tom, dick harry could score the chances are you'll get 4 or 5 of them filling their boots).

Sadly.. as the Aussies have been finding.. the approach works LEAST well when it really matters: if you're ever going to get no-one firing at all it's most likely to be when nasty men like McGrath have got you where they want you!.

I'm very pleased that the Aussies finally seem to have realised that when the going gets tough.. the side needs to model itself on Katitch not Hayden. The sooner the rest of the world learns that lesson the better. The Sehwags of this world are great.. for crushing minnows... but when crunch time comes you want the likes of Richardson, Kirsten, Dravid, Katich, Steve Waugh and Chanderpaul.

Now there's an intresting top 6.... I would defy any attack, ever, to roll that lot out cheaply :-)

[Shaka]

Originally Posted by Rachael

The Sehwags of this world are great.. for crushing minnows... but when crunch time comes you want the likes of Richardson, Kirsten, Dravid, Katich, Steve Waugh and Chanderpaul.

Now there's an intresting top 6.... I would defy any attack, ever, to roll that lot out cheaply :-)

LOL. Now that's one hard-ass batting line up! I always think that Chanderpaul doesn't get the credit he deserves from West Indies...at least that's the impression I get listening to commentators like Holding and Tony Cozier. For me he is a lynchpin of the side which is filled with too many flash harry's who rarely show much inclination for sticking in when the going gets tough.