12.21.07
India Vs Victoria – Day 2 Review
22 December,2007 :
It was not a pretty sight for anyone today.As usual there was heavy downpour and the match had a delayed start.Not much happened during the day during which only 10 overs were bowled.Ganguly added another 8 runs to his overnight tally of 51* and was finally caught off the bowling of Wise who seems to be having a good time against the Indian Batsmen.
Even Dravid just managed only 5 runs to his overnight tally of 33*.Yuvraj was 6* when play was finally called off due to further rain.Probably we’ll get to see our bowlers in action tomorrow as we might declare our innings pretty soon.
12.20.07
India Vs Victoria – Day 1 Review
20th December,2007 :
Indians had mixed fortunes on Day 1 of their 3-Day warm up game against the Victorian state team.The match had a delayed start due to the heavy downpour at Melbourne.It started with Indians winning the toss and electing to bat.They did not have a good start losing Jaffer and Laxman early.Jaffer was out for naughtwhile Laxman managed just 1 run in the 5 balls that he faced.
But the notable point for the Indians was Rahul Dravid opened the batting for them with Jaffer.He looked quite confident doing the job which he sdmitted later during the press conference.
Jaffer was out pulling a ball from outside his off-stump while Laxman was quite unlucky getting out caught behind while trying to play a leg glance.Then walked in Tendulkar who looked quite relaxed and confident during his short stay at the wicket though being a doubtful starter for the game.He was bowled out when he managed only an inside edge while trying to play a back foot cover drive.
Then Ganguly entered and partnered Dravid till the end of the day.Ganguly looked in sublime form stroking the ball perfectly and scoring a half century.Dravid,on the otherhand,was at his defencive best.Both of them are busy reconstructing the Indian innings with a unbeaten 72 runs stand.Indians ended the day on 110/3 in 38 overs off which only 5 overs were bowled by the spinner.
But today’s wrecker-in-chief was the 6 feet 6 tall,left arm quicky,Allan Wise(3 for 22).He took all the three Indian wickets that fell.He bowled a dodgy line-n-length that troubled the Indians.All we can say is that the Indians had a mixed day at the office today.But they should be quite happy with Dravid feeling good about opening the innigs which means that Yuvraj can be roped in and hence Sehwag will be left out atleast for the first two tests.
Beware Of Ponting!!!
We may see the Indian Batsmen spending more time at the wicket during the on going warm up tie against the Victorian state team.But it is also important to get used to bowling the perfect line and lenght on these Australian bouncy wickets.Equal emphasis should be given to all the departments of the game.
Why I say is because of the current form of some of the Australian Batsmen.They’ve got into a tremendous habit of scoring loads of runs.Specially Ponting was ruthless against the New Zealanders scoring two centuries in three games to clinch the Man Of The Match seems to be a big threat.He was unbeaten on two occasions when he scored 100+.This is not good sign for the Indians against whom Ponting has always managed to put up a good show.
Indians should henceforth tighten the screws even in their Bowling armoury.They just can’t rely on their Batsmen to win the Tests.Same thing happened against the Pakistanis recently when even they scored equally even when we were playing with our full bowling strength.So we have to give equal importance to strengthen our Bowling department too.
Now its Punter’s turn to hit back
Just days after the Indians commented about Hogg’s inclusion in the Australian team,Ponting has replied back in his own style.He feels that the Btasmen in the past have found it difficult to read Hogg and he’s done a tremendous job.He also feels that Hogg is in pretty good form to trouble any Batsmen though they might be the best players of spin.
During a press conference even Kumble had opined that Hogg would be their weakest link.Ponting has said that the Indians are welcome to go after Hogg as it is the way for them to capture the wickets.Ponting also felt that it wouldn’t be difficult for Hogg to fair well in Tests when he has done well in ODI’s.
Ponting finished off saying,”If you’d looked at him before the World Cup, you probably wouldn’t have thought he would have been able to have that sort of impact. But he has kept changing little things, little variations, and he’s varied his pace more. He generally bowls at a faster pace now as a stock ball than he did three or four years ago, which I think has helped him a lot. He’s learning all the time, which we all are.”
India – 1 Australia – 1
12.18.07
Waugh’s Voice
When the Australians are thinking about the best bowling combination to be putforth to the Indians to confront with,veteran Captain Waugh had his piece of plan put in.With Sturat MacGill ruled out of the first two tests (Though sources say that he might me ruled out for the series) Brad Hogg is their only choice of a frontline spinner in the team.
Waugh feels that Hogg has to be drafted into the playing eleven with the variety he gives which can be quite handy.He had a decent enough tour to India this time around where he managed to keep the Indian batsman in check.
But the Australian think tank has different plans.By roping in the fiery Shaun Tait who was very good against the New Zealanders during the last week,they are tempted to play him in place of Hogg.With Indians having just three days to get acclamatised to the bouncy wickets with a warm up game against the Victorians,playing Tait could be a good gamble.Indians are just afresh playing on low bouncy pitches.
In such a case the spin department would be taken care ny Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds.This would not be problem as the Indians have handled the likes of Warne and MacGill quite well in the past.
In my point of view the indians have nothing to loose as they are quite clear of what the composition is going to be.All they have to do is adapt to the situation quickly.With Tendulkar,Ganguly,Laxman,Dravid and Kumble being on their virtually last tour Down Under they would love to mark it off in style.With the likes of Dhoni and few more youngsters on their virgin visit,they would like to prove their worth at this level.This will eventually result in a pretty good contest for the next three months.
