Cricketfiles.com

Australia are 2-0 up which means India cannot win the series. India will be desperately looking to win this Test whereas Australia are chasing a record 17th consecutive win.

A PITCH FAVOURING AUSTRALIA

The Perth track has received much media attention owing to its fiery nature and sharp bounce. Pundits claim that it is the fastest pitch in the world which means it is one of the most difficult batting tracks. Lately Perth has shown a tendency to favour spinners towards the last couple of days of the match but pacers still steal the show. This can be illustrated by the simple fact that bowling average and strike rate for pacers is 36 and 64 respectively whereas for spinners it is 42 and 78.

A LIKELY VICTORY FOR AUSTRALIA

Anything that happen in cricket and owing to India’s recent Test form it can’t be underestimated, but as far as probabilities go, Australia appear clear favourites to win. In 17 Tests at Perth since 1990, Australia have won 12 and lost only 2. India have only played 2 Tests previously at Perth and have lost both. Subcontinental teams have struggled at Perth traditionally and it seems getting a draw would be an achievement for India in this match.

MAKING PEACE WITH THE ENEMY

This series will be remembered more for the controversy on and off the field rather than for the actual quality of cricket. It was a blessing for all cricket lovers to know that Ponting and Kumble have made peace and the players have buried their recent past. It is also strange that the two players against whom accusations were made, Harbhajan and Hogg, are unlikely to play in this match because of the pace friendly conditions.

THE PLAYING XI

Hayden is injured and Rogers who has been in encouraging form looks to take his place. Rogers will be playing in front of his home crowd so there are many expectations from him. Hogg is likely to miss out as Australia will strive to bolster their pace by including Tait. Hence, a likely playing XI for Australia is:

1 Chris Rogers, 2 Phil Jaques, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Hussey, 5 Michael Clarke, 6 Andrew Symonds, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Brett Lee, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Stuart Clark, 11 Shaun Tait.

Meanwhile, India are likely to give Sehwag a chance owing to his recent performance in the warm up game. Jaffer despite repeated failures looks likely to play as the Indians want him to be the permanent opener in the team for now although there were whispers Karthik might get a chance. Since India are likely to try 2 specialist openers, Yuvraj Singh who has had a pathetic series is likely to miss out. Harbhajan as mentioned earlier looks to be sidelined for this match, whereas Pathan is likely to take his place. Hence, India’s line up will probably be:

1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Wasim Jaffer, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly, 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Anil Kumble (capt), 10 RP Singh, 11 Ishant Sharma.

India need to do some serious thinking and they must have a gameplan now. Even if India dominate in a session or two they still lack the mental strength to keep it going. This is where Australia excel. What fans of competitive cricket want from India is to perform extraordinarily. Even though the going seems tough, India does have some extraordinary players like Tendulkar and Dravid who can succeed in dominating the opposition and now India needs its seniors more than ever to perform. As far as Australia are concerned, they need to keep on doing what they have done for the past 16 matches they have played, which is……………..win!