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Looking Ahead
: It's Do or Die Time for India |
- A Preview to the 2nd
Test at Chennai by Venkat
As the title suggests, its a do or die situation
for the Indian team,
especially after a crushing and humiliating 217
run defeat at the
hands of the World Champs. Although the Indian
skipper expects his
boys to come back hard at the Aussies, this is
THE match the Indians
have to win to stay in contention to retain the
Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the fifth consecutive
time. The Indians could not have asked for a
better venue to make a comeback in the four
match series. Chennai, unlike Bangalore has
always been a happy hunting ground for the
Indians, and one would hope that the result
turns out positive for India. Cricketfundas.com
gives you an exclusive preview to the
"do-or-die" 2nd Test between India and Australia
at Chennai.
Pitch:
There have been no negative statements on the
pitch so far by anyone concerned. So one need
not be a rocket scientist to know how it will
play. The best and the most sporting pitch in
India, this time around looks good for the
batsmen once again. The first sessions of each
day will be the one to watch out for, as there
will be some amount of bounce and seam for the
pacemen. The spinners could come into play big
time on late Day 3 going into Day 4, but on the
whole it looks a good wicket to bat on. One can
be assured of a result in this wicket, as there
have been hardly any draws in the last 10 years.
The toss could indicate early advantage to the
team as they usually look to put the runs on the
board and apply pressure later on. Its an
important toss for India and will be a good
start if they win it ! Besides India, their
opponents, the Aussies have to battle the sultry
and sticky conditions of Chennai.
India:
The Indian batting has been going through a
black patch, where runs
are hardly coming and they batsmen could not
have asked for a better pitch to reverse their
form. India go into this match with a great
record at Chennai - 4 wins in the last 5 matches
- the only loss was against Pakistan. Change is
the name of the game, as they say. But we will
have to see if the Indians make some drastic
changes in their line up as it is expected after
the Bangalore Bashing. Aakash Chopra could well
be forced to the sidelines and could make way
for either Parthiv Patel or Yuvraj Singh as an
opener. With the man who rules over the MAC
Stadium (Sachin) ruled out, its time for the
rest in the order to show what they are made up
of! The in form Mohammad Kaif could replace the
Master in the line up and it gives him another
chance of showing his skills in the Test arena.
The lower order through the batting prowess's of
Irfan Pathan responded well and
showed some fight. The bowling also needs some
improvement and there is a distant possibility
that Zaheer Khan could be replaced by Ajit
Agarkar. It is clear that the Indians are not
going with the
three-spin attack as this pitch has something in
it for the speedsters. Much will be expected
from Harbhajan after all the good work he did in
Bangalore, and it will be interesting to see if
his magic spell over the Aussie batters
continues in Chennai. With the Indians staring
defeat on its face, will the venue that has seen
many an Indian turnarounds give them the much
needed win, that could really set the series up
?? Its time to wait and watch!
Australia:
The Aussies have done exceedingly well to take
the lead in the series
following their emphatic win at Bangalore. The
first door of the final
frontier has indeed been opened. A win at
Chennai will seal their
position from where they cant lose the series.
The batting seems to be in good touch, as
everyone got starts in both innings but only
that
they did not manage to capitalize on the starts
they got, with
exceptions of Michael Clarke and Adam Gilchrist.
Matthew Hayden, who made a 203 the last time
these two teams met in 2001, would be looking to
repeat the show yet again. There will be some
pressure on the middle order as one of the two
among Damien Martyn and Darren Lehmann will be
making way for the skipper when he returns for
the Nagpur Test. They have done it before when
the threat of a loss of place in the team has
come their way, but it will be interesting to
see if they will be able to repeat it yet again
and throw the cat among the
pigeons for the Aussie Selectors here ! Michael
Clarke is there to stay in the batting line up.
He would be looking forward to yet another good
knock against the Indians at Chennai. The
pacemen have done the job for the Aussies so far
and will be looked to give them a good start, so
that Shane Warne can do it all (grab the World
Record from the man 2000 miles apart in Sri
Lanka). They made the Indians hop, skip and jump
in both innings of the Bangalore Test and with
the pitch offering something, we are in for some
relentless spells of pace bowling this time
around too. Will the Aussies turn their fortunes
around at Chennai, where they have suffered
consecutive losses in 1998 and 2001 at the hands
of the Indians ? But, they will be breathing
easy, because the man who tore their bowling
apart will be a mere spectator in the Indian
dressing room yet again.
The venue for this Test - Chennai has seen many
a close shaves in the last five years with the
two most famous being the one that Pakistan won
by 12 runs and the nail biting
2 wicket win for India in 2001 that sealed
the series. Are we in for yet another humdinger
this time around too and will India continue
their dream run at Chennai ?? Keep visiting
Cricketfundas.com for all the latest scores and
updates of the Test match !
Cricketfundas.com's Probable XI (Subject to final
changes)
India: Virender Sehwag, Parthiv Patel,
Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh,
Mohammad Kaif, VVS Laxman, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer
Khan/Ajit Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble.
Australia: Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer,
Simon Katich, Darren Lehmann, Damien Martyn,
Micheal Clarke, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne,
Micheal Kasprovicz, Glenn McGrath and Jason
Gillespie
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