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Looking Ahead :
Australia in India 2004 |
- Ashwat Ramani
It's time for the Series that every Cricket
fan in this world has been waiting for. Its
"Australia in India 2004" and things don't get
any bigger than this. The Australians would like
to break the 35 year old shackles of not winning
a Test Series in India. The Indians on the other
hand would love to continue with their wonderful
record at home, thereby retain the Gavaskar-Border
Trophy.
India's
performance against Australia (In Tests) |
|
|
Played |
Won |
Lost |
Drawn |
Tied |
|
Home |
32 |
10 |
10 |
11 |
1 |
|
Away |
32 |
4 |
20 |
8 |
0 |
|
Overall |
64 |
14 |
30 |
19 |
1 |
Both these teams have done very well against
each other in the recent past. Whenever we talk
about the Australians playing in India, the
first thing that comes to our mind is the
infamous tied test at
Chennai in 1986. But off late, the Indians
have been really difficult to beat at home. The
Aussies last toured India in 2001 and that Test
Series as we all know went down in to the record books as one of
the best.
India:
The Indians have been a bit rusty off late with
a forgetful Asia Cup, followed by the Videocon
Cup and the Champions Trophy. With Sachin back
in to the squad after the tennis elbow injury,
the Indian batting looks very powerful. The
opening partner for Sehwag is still a mystery,
as Yuvraj and Chopra are battling it out for
that slot. The Australians are very much aware
of the devastation that the Indian Batting has
caused to their bowlers, especially at the hands
of Laxman, Dravid and Sachin. Off late, the Indian batting
order has always been able to put in that extra amount of
effort that is required against the best team in
the world.
Indian Batsmen
against Australia |
|
|
Mts |
Runs |
HS |
Avg |
Avg (Overall) |
Avg Diff |
|
VVS Laxman |
12 |
1334 |
281 |
63.52 |
46.54 |
16.98 |
|
S Tendulkar |
19 |
1789 |
241* |
57.70 |
57.39 |
0.31 |
|
V Sehwag |
4 |
464 |
195 |
58.00 |
52.72 |
5.28 |
|
R Dravid |
14 |
1313 |
233 |
57.08 |
58.09 |
-1.01 |
|
S Ganguly |
14 |
785 |
144 |
34.13 |
42.07 |
-7.94 |
Laxman's vast difference in his average (63.52)
against Australia when compared to his overall
average speaks volumes for the above fact. With
Yuvraj and Kaif coming into the Indian squad,
one would expect to see some Indians flying on
the field, save some crucial runs and take some
important catches. The selectors have decided to
go for Parthiv Patel as the wicket-keeper ahead
of the very promising Dinesh Karthik. Parthiv
was impressive with the bat in the recent series
against Australia against the likes of Lee,
McGrath and again came good against Akhtar and Sami in Pakistan.
The Indian bowling will play a very important
role against the Aussies, because at the end of
the day, you need 20 wickets to win a Test Match.
The Indian pace battery will be spear-headed by Irfan
Pathan, Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar. Zaheer
Khan has been out of the game for a long time,
and one would expect him to get back into his
groove as soon as possible. Indians are going
with a very strong spin attack which means, that
the Aussies will have to be careful of the "Turbunator"
- Harbhajan Singh, the experienced Anil Kumble
and the slow left arm of Murali Kartik. Just
like the Indian Batsmen, the Indian Bowlers have
also showed the tendency of going hard at the
Australians.
Indian Bowlers
against Australia |
|
|
Mts |
Wkts |
BB |
Avg |
Avg (Overall) |
Avg Diff |
|
H Singh |
5 |
35 |
8/84 |
24.28 |
28.47 |
4.19 |
|
A Agarkar |
8 |
29 |
6/41 |
34.65 |
44.34 |
9.69 |
|
A Kumble |
10 |
61 |
8/141 |
27.96 |
28.21 |
0.25 |
|
Z Khan |
4 |
8 |
5/95 |
50.25 |
35.21 |
-15.04 |
|
I Pathan |
2 |
4 |
2/80 |
66.50 |
38.00 |
-28.50 |
The Aussies will still be having fresh memories
of the "Harbhajan Maniac" in their minds, as he
took the series away from the Aussies with a
breath-taking 32 wickets. Harbhajan against
Australia has been very dangerous with a wicket for
every 24 runs when compared to his overall
average of 28 runs per wicket.
Australia:
The Australians are coming into this Series
after a thrashing at the hands of England in the
Semi-Finals of the Champions Trophy. The World
of Cricket has seen great Australian captains
like Allan Border, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh who have
achieved almost everything except beating India in
India. The Aussies will miss the services of
their captain Ricky Ponting for the first two tests who is out with a
finger injury and will be led by Adam Gilchrist
in his absence. The Australians have also gone
with a strong batting line up, blended with both
experienced and young players. The Indians
better watch out for youngsters like Clarke and
Hodge, for they will prove very dangerous. The
Australian Batsmen have also been quite
successful when it comes to facing the Indian
Bowlers.
Australian
Batsmen against India |
| |
Mts |
Runs |
HS |
Avg |
Avg (Overall) |
Avg Diff |
|
M Hayden |
7 |
1000 |
203 |
83.33 |
58.14 |
25.19 |
|
R Ponting |
14 |
1230 |
257 |
55.90 |
54.33 |
1.57 |
|
J Langer |
10 |
819 |
223 |
45.50 |
44.98 |
0.52 |
|
D Martyn |
4 |
254 |
66 |
42.33 |
47.13 |
-4.80 |
|
A Gilchrist |
10 |
441 |
122 |
29.40 |
52.80 |
-23.40 |
The above stats show that Hayden scores 25 runs
more against India than against the other
countries. He has always been a threat to the
Indian bowling, and the Indians would love to
see his back early in the innings. Martyn and
Lehmann would add strength to their middle-order
along with the youngsters.
The Australian bowling needs no introduction.
For years, they have been successful with the
likes of McGrath, Gillespie and Lee firing all
guns hard
at their opponents. The Aussie spin attack will
be led by the veteran - Shane Warne along
with Nathan Hauritz and Cameron White. Let's see
how well have the Australian bowlers done
against the Indians in the recent past.
Australian
Bowlers against India |
| |
Mts |
Wkts |
BB |
Avg |
Avg (Overall) |
Avg Diff |
|
G McGrath |
7 |
37 |
5/48 |
16.08 |
21.61 |
5.53 |
|
B Lee |
4 |
21 |
5/47 |
31.42 |
31.66 |
0.24 |
|
J Gillespie |
6 |
23 |
4/65 |
33.52 |
25.71 |
-7.81 |
|
M Kasprowicz |
5 |
10 |
5/28 |
57.50 |
33.46 |
-24.04 |
|
S Warne |
11 |
29 |
4/47 |
55.44 |
25.47 |
-29.97 |
The above stats clearly show why McGrath is
considered to be among the best in the game. He
is mean as ever with an average of 16 against
the Indians. Warne on the other hand plummets by
30 runs per wicket against the Indians to his
overall average of 25.47. This clearly shows how
dominating the Indians are, when it comes to
playing quality spin. With Tendulkar hoping to
play against the Aussies, Warne will be in a
state of discomfort bowling to this maestro.
All in all, this promises to be a great series.
The next one month will be packed with absolute
drama, as both these teams will give their best.
May the best team win in this ultimate battle
for excellence in Test Cricket.
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