CAN WE HAVE SOME COMPETITIVE CRICKET AT SYDNEY??!!
on January 1st, 2008 at 10:55 amThis is the preview for the 2nd Test between Australia and India starting on the 2nd at Sydney. Australia are 1-0 ahead and fans of competitive cricket will be hoping India have done some hard work. Cricketfiles’ previous preview and bulletins exposed many weaknesses of India and unless they address them, they are likely to suffer a similar result at Sydney.
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
The Sydney pitch is being rumoured to have something for everyone. On the first couple of days it seems to suit the pacers more and then as the pitch cracks up it will suit spinners accordingly. There is a fair amount of grass on the pitch at the moment, perhaps intentional on the part of the Australian groundsmen to assist Australia’s pacers. Both Ponting and Kumble have pointed out that their teams will benefit from this pitch.
A VENUE RELISHED BY INDIAN BATSMEN
Sydney like many other Australian grounds finds favour with the Indians. Tendulkar averages 249, Laxman 117, Sehwag 60 and Dravid 53 on this ground. India will feel slightly disturbed that their best batsmen in 2007, Ganguly, averages only 14 at this ground. India have a reasonable record at this ground- one win and three defeats in eight Tests, which is a better record for India than at any other Australian venue.
AUSTRALIAN DOMINANCE AT SYDNEY
Aussies traditionally have dominated at Sydney. Their overall record here is an impressive 51 wins and 27 defeats, but their recent form is scary: in their last 13 Tests they have won 11, with their only loss – to England in 2002-03 – coming after they had already sealed the five-Test series by winning the first four games. Ponting is a master at Sydney averaging 82, Gilchrist averages 60, Hayden 54 and Hussey 41.
PACE VS SPIN
Although Sydney has traditionally been a venue assisting spinners, recently it has assisted pacers more and spinners since 2000 have averaged 39 runs per wicket. Since 2000 spinners and pacers have performed almost at the same level. This is interesting because this might mean that India are in a more dangerous situation than earlier expected- if the venue now is favouring fast bowlers the same way it is favouring spinners, Australia’s attack can cause sizeable damage to India.
PONTING AND HARBHAJAN
Ponting will feel slightly uncomfortable facing Bhajji. Bhajii has dismissed Ponting 6 times in 7 Tests. The track at Sydney looks to assist Harbhajan more than the one at Melbourne. It will be interesting to see the how master batsman Ponting faces Harbhajan.
PLAYING XI
Australia are likely to go in with the same winning combination. Johnson didn’t take a lot of wickets but he was successful in exerting pressure and also provided the angle because he is left armed. Hogg needs to play at Sydney for Australia because this pitch will assist him the most. There is no reason why Australia should change their playing XI and as yet there are no reports of any injury to any player. Hence a likely XI for Australia is:
1 Phil Jaques, 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Hussey, 5 Michael Clarke, 6 Andrew Symonds, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Mitchell Johnson, 11 Stuart Clark
India on the other hard need to think hard about their opening. If they have revised a different strategy to counter pace they can persist with the same combination but it would be wiser to change tactics here to see which one suits India more at Perth. Some commentators are advising Kumble to play Sehwag instead of Jaffer. It is a dilemma for India because on one hand Jaffer looks unconvincing and does not have a great overseas record and on the other hand Sehwag is unreliable but has a decent record and a spectacular average against Australia. There is also a possibility of Yuvraj being dropped and Kumble trying both Sehwag and Jaffer. Also, Zaheer Khan has injured his heel which makes him a doubtful starter. He went to the hospital but according to the latest reports there is still uncertainty if he will play. Kumble is known to be a careful man who does not like to take risks. Hence assuming Zaheer recovers in time for tomorrow, this is likely to be India’s playing XI:
1 Wasim Jaffer, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly, 6 VVS Laxman, 7 MS Dhoni (wk), 8 Anil Kumble (capt), 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Zaheer Khan (or perhaps Irfan), 11 RP Singh
A dismal performance at Sydney will taint all the glory achieved by India in 2007 because even though India is facing the most difficult task in Test cricket- playing Australia in Australia, they have improved in many areas in 2007 and their improvements should in principle, show. This is a test of character and resilience for India, a measure of whether it has really improved as a team or is it the same team that depended on Tendulkar to score a century every innings and often lost outside the Subcontinent? India cannot afford to lose this match and accordingly, the series. As for Australia, they look to equal their own record of 16 straight wins in Tests. A win against India will be yet another feather in their cap.
We at CF hope you enjoyed reading our preview. Let us hope that this New Year shows us more competitive cricket than 2007 did, which was really a poor year for international cricket. A very happy new year to all and thanks for visiting Cricketfiles!
Well, Ricky Ponting is not going to give away this match in a silver platter to Anil Kumble as a New Year’s gift, in fact he is aiming to better the record set by Steve Waugh’s men.
I couldn’t stop smiling while I was reading Kumble’s comment in the news in which he is demanding from his players to remain “positive and aggressive” being a captain, himself he has adapted the negative and defensive tactics and now directing his comments towards Rahul Dravid.
If he wants to show that he has balls he should play Sehwag. His records against Australia are not so good but then as a captain he has to choose between Karthik and Sehwag and when you talk of aggression you think Sehwag and not Karthik. I think the escape goat may not be Dravid but Yuvraj.
Dravid is not in good form neither is Dhoni and Yuvraj has an attitude problem, Laxman is playing because of his reputation against the Aussies and Tendulkar despite his allergies will still be playing. On paper the Indian batting line-up always look very good especially when you use these terms of IF’s and BUT’s. They work against other countries but not against Australians in Australia.
Although Sydney Ground is more favourable for spinners and Harbhajan has got Ricky 6 out of 7 times in test matches so there is always this battle going on but, Ricky is mentally very strong and this time he won’t throw away his wicket.
With Zaheer not playing due to injury, IK Pathan would be under tremendous pressure because Zaheer is in good form and I think in ODI games he was topping the list of most wicket takerss and recently Vittori has surpassed that, am I right?
A 100 runs lead in the first innings would be very decisive and whoever takes that lead would be the winner. Mentally, India is not in good shape so they will crumble once again especially if Mathew Hayden dominates once again like he did at MCG then India has had it.
I think playing Sehwag will be a huge gamble, because he averaged 13 in this Ranji season and his recent international performances have been disappointing. If he fires then it will be great, but if he fails after playing a loose stroke, as has been his habit in recent times, it would only put more pressure on the middle order.
There have been reports that the pitch will assist the pacemen more than the spinners, so there is more bad news for the Indian batsmen who must have been relying on the SCG wicket to turn their fortunes.
I think they must go with Yuvraj since he plays well against pace. All the Indian batsmen must have been surprised by the extra pace of the Aussie bowlers at Melbourne, but now they should get their acts together.
I still honestly don’t see India winning tomorrow’s Test. If we want to stay competitive, then playing with controlled aggression is the key, something that has not been seen in recent India-Aus matches.
khansahab – once again very good preview of the match.
The disappointing news is that Sehwag has been left out again. That means that the Drama Queen Yuv will play again. I think this is bad for India and shows once again Kumble’s defensive mentality.
This is the test where I thought some of the seasoned Indian batters would come good and get used to the conditions. I expect some decent scores from Tedulkar as well as Dravid & Co. But by not playing Sehwag and playing Dravid as an opener again could well backfire and India will most likely loose here. After that they would be heading for Perth next where they would find the going tough again on a bouncy wicket and that is where the series would be over for India at 3-0.
The last match would then become academic where India might just about get a face saving win or a draw. In a dead rubber Australia usually do poorly.
It was necessary for India to fight fire with fire but by using Dravid as an opener they are being very defensive. Dravid is a completely different proposition down the order and an asset for the Indians as the players above him play a lot better with aggression knowing that the Wall is to come. Just like Inzi whose position at about number 5 used to give the players above him a lot of heart.
Assalamualaikum Wasim Saqib,
All I have to say is 2 things:
1) If Australia bat first and they make 350+, India will lose this series.
2) If the pitch is helping pace the same way Melbourne pitch did, India will lose.
Dr Haroon
Seattle