From the iSport Cricket Paddock: The much awaited India vs Australia series is here! iSporter Akhil Ranade pens a preview for the tour that starts today!
It’s been a rather rough phase for the game of cricket in the recent past. Allegations around the Pakistani players and counter allegations by the Pak board chief have caused anguish for cricket lovers who have a reason to feel cheated. Allegations are being thrown around more than cricket balls at practice and the Airtel Champions League has done little to get the fans back to watch the game.
Starting today is the next piece of a rivalry which is challenging the Ashes as the most exciting one in world cricket. The Gavaskar-Border trophy gets underway tomorrow in Mohali and what is an additional zing is that this might be the last time India will get to field their batting might against the Aussies. Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag have enjoyed success against the Aussies in various battles and also ensured that it made for great viewing for cricket lovers and this might be one of the last few battles they fight with the Aussies.
The Indian team has been ranked no 1 in test cricket and a large share of the success for this has to be credited to the stupendous form of Virender Sehwag. He has been the game changer for the team giving them blazing starts which leaves the opposition running for cover from the word go! Sehwag’s aggressive batting has meant that opposition teams have had to focus on him, thereby allowing the rest of the batsmen – Tendulkar, Dravid, Gambhir, Laxman to play without the pressure of looking at the scoring rate. Tendulkar and Laxman have always raised their games when it comes to playing against Australia and Dhoni will surely be thankful for this.
Sehwag will again be the key during the India-Australia series with Mitchell Johnson already having announced that he will try a lot of short pitched stuff with Sehwag to test him. With the departure of Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist and the subsequent struggles of Ponting, Australia are still searching for the attacking batsman who changes the complexion of a match within a session. At the moment with Ponting not at his best, the Aussie batting can be tested specially if the ball turns. Except Michael Clarke none of the Aussie batsmen are naturally comfortable against spin bowling and this could be a huge factor in the series if the pitches take turn early.
One man who could have made the most of this weakness is the Turbanator – Harbhajan Singh but he himself is struggling to find his best bowling form at the moment, having had a poor series in Sri Lanka and then suffering an injury. An in form Harbhajan can run riot with this batting order and truth is that he needs one spell of attacking bowling to get back to his best.
The Aussies will rely on their skipper to come good, it’s probably the last chance for Ponting to correct his poor record in India and his personal battles with Harbhajan who has troubled him the most. Mitchell Johnson is the only Aussie bowler who has bowled in Indian conditions and he will be expected to lead the attack now. Nathan Hauritz was a rookie understudy to Shane Warne on his first tour to India in 2004 and now returns as Australia’s frontline spinner having had a decent bit of success in this role. H
Overall it seems like it will be a straight battle between the batting orders of both the teams with Sehwag & Harbhajan most likely to be the players who can change the series.
Starting today is the next piece of a rivalry which is challenging the Ashes as the most exciting one in world cricket. The Gavaskar-Border trophy gets underway tomorrow in Mohali and what is an additional zing is that this might be the last time India will get to field their batting might against the Aussies. Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag have enjoyed success against the Aussies in various battles and also ensured that it made for great viewing for cricket lovers and this might be one of the last few battles they fight with the Aussies.
The Indian team has been ranked no 1 in test cricket and a large share of the success for this has to be credited to the stupendous form of Virender Sehwag. He has been the game changer for the team giving them blazing starts which leaves the opposition running for cover from the word go! Sehwag’s aggressive batting has meant that opposition teams have had to focus on him, thereby allowing the rest of the batsmen – Tendulkar, Dravid, Gambhir, Laxman to play without the pressure of looking at the scoring rate. Tendulkar and Laxman have always raised their games when it comes to playing against Australia and Dhoni will surely be thankful for this.
Sehwag will again be the key during the India-Australia series with Mitchell Johnson already having announced that he will try a lot of short pitched stuff with Sehwag to test him. With the departure of Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist and the subsequent struggles of Ponting, Australia are still searching for the attacking batsman who changes the complexion of a match within a session. At the moment with Ponting not at his best, the Aussie batting can be tested specially if the ball turns. Except Michael Clarke none of the Aussie batsmen are naturally comfortable against spin bowling and this could be a huge factor in the series if the pitches take turn early.
One man who could have made the most of this weakness is the Turbanator – Harbhajan Singh but he himself is struggling to find his best bowling form at the moment, having had a poor series in Sri Lanka and then suffering an injury. An in form Harbhajan can run riot with this batting order and truth is that he needs one spell of attacking bowling to get back to his best.
The Aussies will rely on their skipper to come good, it’s probably the last chance for Ponting to correct his poor record in India and his personal battles with Harbhajan who has troubled him the most. Mitchell Johnson is the only Aussie bowler who has bowled in Indian conditions and he will be expected to lead the attack now. Nathan Hauritz was a rookie understudy to Shane Warne on his first tour to India in 2004 and now returns as Australia’s frontline spinner having had a decent bit of success in this role. H
Overall it seems like it will be a straight battle between the batting orders of both the teams with Sehwag & Harbhajan most likely to be the players who can change the series.
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