India vs Australia: First Test

By mikesiva

The anticipation over the series between India and Australia is building every day, as the first day of the first Test match draws near.

Bangalore is the venue for the first Test, and it starts on October 9. And - dare we say it? - the hype over this series threatens to overshadow the traditional confrontation between Australia and their auld enemy, England, in the Ashes.

Australia have ruled the roost since taking over the mantle from Richie Richardson's West Indies 12 years ago. Since then, pretenders have come and gone. The latest team to threaten the Aussies are India, but they have their own problems.

PLAYING SPIN

Their claim to be the second best side in the world was seriously dented by a 2-1 loss in Sri Lanka. The much-heralded middle order of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly and VVS Laxman struggled to come to grips with the spin twins Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis.

They must be thankful that the tourists have not been able to come up with a replacement for the legspinning wizard, Shane Warne! Beau Casson, who toured the Caribbean, was left at home, and two untried spinners were sent to India - Bryce McGain and Jason Krejza. But the seasoned campaigner in first-class cricket, McGain, developed a shoulder injury, and was sent home, and Krejza was on the receiving end of a pasting in the four-day game against an Indian Board XI. Even Yuvraj Singh, who normally struggles against spin, played Krejza with ease....

INDIA'S BATTING

What will the Indian team look like? The aging stars looked like they had gone before their best-before date by the time the Sri Lanka tour came around. Surely, some hard decisions wee going to be made, and some of the oldsters would be pensioned off? Even 37-year old legspinning captain Anil Kumble looked innocuous in comparison to Murali and Mendis.

But these stars are almost untouchable. At one stage, it seemed as if Ganguly would've been the one to take the fall, but even he has now been recalled to the Test squad. The only new face in the squad is Subramaniam Badrinath, but he seems unlikely to play ahead of the Fab Four, especially after his poor performances in the Irani Trophy and in the Board four-day game.

India's strength, for once, seems to be in the opening partnership of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Ghambir. Sehwag seems to have been reborn, after losing excess weight, and recovering his form. In his shadow, Ghambir has earned a recall, and continues to build solid starts.

Dravid will come in one down, but The Wall appears to be crumbling. This could be his last series, if he doesn't get some decent scores. Tendulkar just needs 77 runs to overtake Brian Lara as the world's leading run-getter in Test cricket. But it is questionable how much longer he can go on for.

GANGULY AND THE LOWER ORDER

Ganguly has struggled for runs in recent times, averaging a mediocre 30 in his last three series. He's living on borrowed time, and a poor series against Australia will surely mean the end of his career. In contrast, Laxman outperformed his more illustrious colleagues in Sri Lanka, and will have a stay of execution, until next year, at least. He may just keep his place in the side, because he can bowl some medium pacers, allowing the selectors to continue the risky policy of selecting just two pacers.

Wicketkeeper MS Dhoni continues to be the captain-in-waiting, as Kumble looked decidedly average against Sri Lanka. Kumble even seems to be taking up a space that will be better served by Piyush Chawla, who took wickets at will against the Aussies in the Board game. And if the seasoned veterans fail to notch up the runs, the clamour for those who did make runs for the Board XI - Rohit Sharma, Virut Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, and even Wasim Jaffer - will grow louder.

Harbhajan Singh continues to be India's main spin weapon, and a lot will depend on him this series. For once, there is a lot of pace-bowling talent to choose from, but the selectors will probably turn to Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma for the first Test.

THE AUSTRALIAN BATTING

There have been quite a few changes to the Australian team in recent times as well. Matthew Hayden is approaching the end of the his career, and with the way he scratched around in the Board match, his retirement might not be that far away. Simon Katich appears to have edged Phil Jaques out for the right to open with the former world record holder.

The rest of the top order has a familiar ring to it - Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, and Michael Hussey. But Ponting has historically struggled for runs in India, Clarke hasn't always produced the goods, and Hussey's honeymoon seems to be coming to an end. That said, Hussey was the only Aussie batsman to get to three figures in the Board match.

WATSON AND THE BOWLERS

Australia will miss the enigmatic Andy Symonds at six, and Shane Watson will be a poor substitute. It remains to be seen if he can live up to expectations, in much the same way that Brad Haddin will be hard-pressed to fill the boots of legendary wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist.

The sole spinner's position seems to be a toss-up between Krejza and the recently-called-up Cameron White, a leg-spinning allrounder. But the main wicket-takers will be Australia's new pace force of Stuart Clark, Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson.

It promises to be an exciting series, and we can discuss it all on Cricket-Match-Special. Do join us here:

http://www.cricket-match-special.com/index.php

We look forward to talking to you about it!