India in Australia

[harishankar]

We need to get a lead of 600 and shut Australia out of the match.
We have a fantastic opportunity. We must be aggressive, get the runs knocked off and someone needs a BIG ton.
With the ball, knock em over for 100, and win by 500 runs.

Long way to go for that. And the pitch is still a bit dodgy so there will still be wickets there for everybody. And Brett Lee is getting good swing at the moment.

600 might be looking too far ahead at the moment. I think realistically India should just concentrate on batting out day 3 and then reassessing at intervals just to see how things pan out without looking at any target.

Remember, we've been in better positions and thrown it away and still only 170 ahead.

 

[King Pietersen]

Another 200 runs for India and they have a good enough total to win the match. Cant see Australia making more than 300 in the 2nd innings tbh.

 

[Atlas]

I think both Johnson and Tait are a bit over-rated. Johnson moreso. I haven't seen him do one thing that has really impressed me this summer. I'd send him back to domestic cricket until he gets more skills. If he bowls that wide rubbish all day tomorrow I'll probably throw the remote through the tv screen.

 

[punterpupnroy]

We need to get a lead of 600 and shut Australia out of the match.
We have a fantastic opportunity. We must be aggressive, get the runs knocked off and someone needs a BIG ton.
With the ball, knock em over for 100, and win by 500 runs.

I'd like to see that happen. But i wouldnt put australia outa the contest yet there is a long way to go.

 

[harishankar]

I think both Johnson and Tait are a bit over-rated. Johnson moreso. I haven't seen him do one thing that has really impressed me this summer. I'd send him back to domestic cricket until he gets more skills. If he bowls that wide rubbish all day tomorrow I'll probably throw the remote through the tv screen.

Why was Johnson picked? I think 3 pacers are more than enough and you need the variety of spin to get the Indians.

One pacer will always be underbowled in a 4 man pace attack.

If you get the other team out cheaply, I think 3 men can easily do all the damage with a spinner supporting at the other end.

On the other hand, if the other team plays a long innings, one of the pacers will definitely face less workload and will be wasted.

That's why I was surprised that Australia were tempted to play a 4 pace attack. Why change a winning combination?

 

[manee]

One pacer will always be underbowled in a 4 man pace attack.

But such a situation is made for Shaun Tait, who can only bowl 4-5 overs on the trot without tiring.

 

[harishankar]

But such a situation is made for Shaun Tait, who can only bowl 4-5 overs on the trot without tiring.

But he wasn't exactly charging in was he? I thought Lee was the best of the lot.

I think it also tells a lot about McGrath and Warne's influence. Those two could run through any side single-handedly and so Australia always had a fierce attack. Suddenly you have two pace bowlers out of form and it shows up a bit when there's no quality spinner in the attack.

I think why Warne was such a great bowler was because he could easily make up for the lack of form of even 2 or 3 bowlers from the other end.

 

[aussie1st]

Who would have thought we would struggle on the pacey pitch. Our usual batters that have been so consistent have stopped making runs and Clarke along with Jaques seem to have hit a rough spot of late. This is where we need Tait to have one of those spells to put us back into this game.

 

[manee]

But he wasn't exactly charging in was he?

He never charges in. He bowls like a javelin thrower. The run up has a goal to build rhythm of forward momentum rather than speed. I know that he bowled reprehensibly today, but I guess the selectors could not disregard the fast pitch, Tait's 150kph pace and his FC strike rate of just 44.7.

 

[punterpupnroy]

i dont really like shaun tait. I never have he may be quick but he just is all over the place like johnson

 

[angryangy]

I think that the myth that Indians cannot play on bouncy tracks is now history. True, we struggled in the past, but actually if you notice it of late, Indian batsmen have trouble on the slower wickets where they cannot time the shots well.

I suppose it's of no consequence to India, who won't be back at the WACA for some time, but the ground's curator Cameron Sutherland doesn't even consider this wicket to be bouncy. It's better than it was, but he is saying that if you thought there has been bounce in this wicket, wait till you see the new square he is preparing. It's in the next stage that he expects to rekindle the old WACA vibe.

 

[harishankar]

I suppose it's of no consequence to India, who won't be back at the WACA for some time, but the ground's curator Cameron Sutherland doesn't even consider this wicket to be bouncy. It's better than it was, but he is saying that if you thought there has been bounce in this wicket, wait till you see the new square he is preparing. It's in the next stage that he expects to rekindle the old WACA vibe.

I'm aware of this and the commentators also mentioned it numerous times, but still it has been the quickest pitch in this series so far and in fact, I think the Indian batmen have enjoyed these conditions more than Melbourne which was a really slow wicket.

Also these conditions are bouncy and pacy compared to any other pitch in the world maybe except Johannesburg.

The fact that also there was swing in the air for the Indian bowlers is what has given them a lot of reward.

 

[manee]

Who would have thought we would struggle on the pacey pitch.

Certainly not me, it would seem that the Indian bowlers have upped a gear on the fast pitch. Pathan is clocking in the mid 130s, Ishant in the high 130s and RP Singh had touched 140kph about a dozen times. It was heartening to see the Indians sustain such pace on what looked like a hot day.

Evidently, the coaching with Akram has helped Pathan as he demonstated the inswing which he has not shown since Akram last coached him in 2006. I still do not think that Ishant should be exposed to the full international schedule yet, but with Munaf, Sreesanth and Zaheer injured, I guess he is the next best thing we have. So far, he has done very well, his lines were perfect today. The comparisons with Ambrose and Mcgrath show that even the Australians, who have plenty of tall, fast bowlers in their State sides are impressed with him. It is also good to see that Prasad has helped Ishant eradicate the no ball problem, which would have always prevented him from realising his full potential.

And RP Singh, wow! What a star! He may be expensive, but he really picks up the wickets at three or four, a go. When Zaheer and Sreesanth return, I think India could have a very healthy competition for places and furthermore, could have one of the strongest pace attacks in the world, if they can perform more often as they did today.

I suppose it's of no consequence to India, who won't be back at the WACA for some time, but the ground's curator Cameron Sutherland doesn't even consider this wicket to be bouncy. It's better than it was, but he is saying that if you thought there has been bounce in this wicket, wait till you see the new square he is preparing. It's in the next stage that he expects to rekindle the old WACA vibe.

You are right, the pitch did not harbour bounce which was massively steep. I had read reports prior to the match which suggested that the pitch would be more fast than bouncy and they appear to be right.

 

[angryangy]

Tait isn't going to simply get better by bowling in domestic cricket, where he is quite dominant. Tait's last FC game was at the end of November, where he took ten wickets. However, the time between then and now is telling as he seems underprepared. Like any raw fast bowler, he needs to grow into the task. He's well proven at ODIs, but even that took a few games to get going.

No doubt he's been told to 'just bowl fast', when perhaps someone should say 'relax, forget about the speed guns; if it's coming out quick then it is coming out quick. Now, here's a plan we want you to try...'

 

[karnog]

Johnson picked important wickets- Sehwag and Ganguly at a time when Australia needed momementum. To be honest i expected tait to outbowl Johnson considering the hype. I didn't know Tait was injured recently so the Aus think tank are stupid to not realise that he only got a few match practices. Noffke would've been better in my opinion and Katich should've been in the squad. But who am i to complain i'm just an Indian supporter.