India heads into the tour of Australia with confidence after a well fought victory over the Pakistanis on home soil. Its been a good test year for India,the icing on the cake being the victory over Eng coming after 21 years on English soil. Now the BIG Question on everyone's mind is whether they can crack the Aussie juggernaut and emerge victorious. India surprised themselves last time by not only winning a test but agonizingly also coming close to a series win..
Just fathom this coincidence:
Australia came to India in 2001 with 15 consecutive test victories under their belt&it was India who ended their record with a miraculous win at Kolkata thus ending Australia's streak at 16.
Now coming to the present, Australia have registered 14 consecutive victories&are looking to break their own record of 16 wins. The opponents are yet again India.
What will happen??We have to wait&see!!
Now coming to the serious question. Do India really have the resources to challenge Australia??
If you ask me,the answer is a resounding "YES"
It is the last tour of Australia for the BIG5; Sachin,Ganguly,Dravid,Laxman&Kumble. All of them would be really gunning to do well&we can surely expect a lot from them!!..
Ganguly has been in wonderful form of late with 534 runs against Pak&also being adjudged the Man of the Series and we can definitely expect him to continue the fireworks.
Sachin's last test in Aus at Sydney yielded a brilliantly crafted 241*&he will look at this innings for inspiration.
Laxman is one guy the Australians give a lot of respect &going by his reputation of having a very very special liking towards Australian bowlers..u can expect another monumental performance.
Dravid is 1 person who is out of form but he will have fond memories of the last tour esp. his match winning double hundred at Adelaide.
The last series saw Kumble being dropped for the 1st test @Brisbane but he came back strongly&bowled his heart out to take 24 Wkts in the remaining 3 Tests.Now with the additional responsibility of Captaincy..im sure he will relish the challenge.
Batting wise additionally they have 2 young turks Yuvraj&Dhoni. They will add a lot of dynamism&spark into the team.Both these players i believe will give a major kick to India's Fortunes Down Under.
Jaffer's recent form is a boost&Sehwag's inclusion in the team gives me a lot of happiness.
1 session of Sehwag magic can tilt a game in India's favour. I appreciate the selectors for picking him despite his poor run of form.His success in the last tour could have also influenced his selection.It will be a tough call to pick the second opener but i will go for Sehwag over Dinesh Karthik.Another option would be to send Dravid at the top of the order so that Yuvraj can get a spot in the middle order.
Bowling wise Zaheer&R P Singh have been stand out performers..They will face a stern test against a very formidable Aussie line up..This tour could probably determine how good they are. Sreesanth will be sorely missed.Irfan made his debut the last time India toured Aus&he will have great memories of the inswinging yorker which had Gilchrist absolutely clueless.His good batting form should give him the much needed impetus to do well. Harbhajan bowled well against Pak with not much luck.Ishant Sharma&Pankaaj Singh are the new faces. Ishant's height will come in handy in bouncy conditions&his recent polishing of the Pakistan tail is another positive sign&he could be considered as a good option later on in the series.
Australia without an iota of doubt are the best side in the world&have been so for the past 12 years.They are a very formidable batting line up&it is virtually impossible to bowl them out twice in a test match. But the chink in their armor is that the bowling is not as strong as it used to be..esp. with the retirement of Warne&McGrath and the fading off of Gillespie.Stuart MacGill their other class spinner is injured & will be out of action for the 2 tests.So it is relatively an inexperienced bowling line up with only Lee having played over 50 Tests.
India should take maximum advantage of this fact&pile on the runs so as to put pressure on the Aussie batting line up.This is the only way i see India bowling out Australia..
The countdown has begun & I'm really looking forward to this trip.It is sure to be a roller coaster ride with fortunes swinging both ways. Am really excited & waiting with bated breath for the series to get underway.
My Prediction:
Series Score-1-1
Best Batsman:Ricky Ponting
Best Bowler:Anil Kumble
Conclusion:
India have never won a series in Australia&probably it will be the greatest achievement in their 75 years of Cricketing Existence if they pull it off (beleive me even bigger than their WORLD CUP Win). I dont expect it to happen (but my gut feeling says India will somehow scrape through&achieve the unthinkable). Hoping for a really stupendous series Down Under&i sincerely wish&pray that a miracle is not far off. Fingers crossed!
Just fathom this coincidence:
Australia came to India in 2001 with 15 consecutive test victories under their belt&it was India who ended their record with a miraculous win at Kolkata thus ending Australia's streak at 16.
Now coming to the present, Australia have registered 14 consecutive victories&are looking to break their own record of 16 wins. The opponents are yet again India.
What will happen??We have to wait&see!!
Now coming to the serious question. Do India really have the resources to challenge Australia??
If you ask me,the answer is a resounding "YES"
It is the last tour of Australia for the BIG5; Sachin,Ganguly,Dravid,Laxman&Kumble. All of them would be really gunning to do well&we can surely expect a lot from them!!..
Ganguly has been in wonderful form of late with 534 runs against Pak&also being adjudged the Man of the Series and we can definitely expect him to continue the fireworks.
Sachin's last test in Aus at Sydney yielded a brilliantly crafted 241*&he will look at this innings for inspiration.
Laxman is one guy the Australians give a lot of respect &going by his reputation of having a very very special liking towards Australian bowlers..u can expect another monumental performance.
Dravid is 1 person who is out of form but he will have fond memories of the last tour esp. his match winning double hundred at Adelaide.
The last series saw Kumble being dropped for the 1st test @Brisbane but he came back strongly&bowled his heart out to take 24 Wkts in the remaining 3 Tests.Now with the additional responsibility of Captaincy..im sure he will relish the challenge.
Batting wise additionally they have 2 young turks Yuvraj&Dhoni. They will add a lot of dynamism&spark into the team.Both these players i believe will give a major kick to India's Fortunes Down Under.
Jaffer's recent form is a boost&Sehwag's inclusion in the team gives me a lot of happiness.
1 session of Sehwag magic can tilt a game in India's favour. I appreciate the selectors for picking him despite his poor run of form.His success in the last tour could have also influenced his selection.It will be a tough call to pick the second opener but i will go for Sehwag over Dinesh Karthik.Another option would be to send Dravid at the top of the order so that Yuvraj can get a spot in the middle order.
Bowling wise Zaheer&R P Singh have been stand out performers..They will face a stern test against a very formidable Aussie line up..This tour could probably determine how good they are. Sreesanth will be sorely missed.Irfan made his debut the last time India toured Aus&he will have great memories of the inswinging yorker which had Gilchrist absolutely clueless.His good batting form should give him the much needed impetus to do well. Harbhajan bowled well against Pak with not much luck.Ishant Sharma&Pankaaj Singh are the new faces. Ishant's height will come in handy in bouncy conditions&his recent polishing of the Pakistan tail is another positive sign&he could be considered as a good option later on in the series.
Australia without an iota of doubt are the best side in the world&have been so for the past 12 years.They are a very formidable batting line up&it is virtually impossible to bowl them out twice in a test match. But the chink in their armor is that the bowling is not as strong as it used to be..esp. with the retirement of Warne&McGrath and the fading off of Gillespie.Stuart MacGill their other class spinner is injured & will be out of action for the 2 tests.So it is relatively an inexperienced bowling line up with only Lee having played over 50 Tests.
India should take maximum advantage of this fact&pile on the runs so as to put pressure on the Aussie batting line up.This is the only way i see India bowling out Australia..
The countdown has begun & I'm really looking forward to this trip.It is sure to be a roller coaster ride with fortunes swinging both ways. Am really excited & waiting with bated breath for the series to get underway.
My Prediction:
Series Score-1-1
Best Batsman:Ricky Ponting
Best Bowler:Anil Kumble
Conclusion:
India have never won a series in Australia&probably it will be the greatest achievement in their 75 years of Cricketing Existence if they pull it off (beleive me even bigger than their WORLD CUP Win). I dont expect it to happen (but my gut feeling says India will somehow scrape through&achieve the unthinkable). Hoping for a really stupendous series Down Under&i sincerely wish&pray that a miracle is not far off. Fingers crossed!
No comments:
Post a Comment