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Looking Ahead
: Down to the Business End of the Series |
- A Preview to the 3rd
Test at Nagpur by Venkat
As the title says, its down to the business end
of the series. At the end of the 2 matches,
India still stay adrift of the Aussies by a
match, and having the rain gods played havoc at
Chennai, it all counts at the third test at
Nagpur. This match is yet another do-or-die for
India, as a win for Australia will end India's
hopes of retaining the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
So, yet again with a do-or-die situation
looming large over the Indian shoulders, it will
be left to see how well they react to this
pressure. Cricketfundas.com gives its readers an
exclusive and analytical preview to the 3rd Test
match between India and Australia at Nagpur.
Pitch:
Yet again, the pitch has attracted a lot of
attention with the VCA (Vidharba Cricket
Assocation) curator promising a "sporting"
wicket
even if the Indians would like a turner. One
gets a feeling that the pitch plays an important
part of the pre-match buildup and the pitch
could just be a weapon used by the Indians as a
strong pre-match tactic. A green top or a dead
wicket ?? Hard to say at this moment.
But going by the manner in which the Nagpur
wicket has played in the past, it just could be
a hard and dead wicket at Nagpur. The
likelihood of a green top is minimal because of
the dry and hot wicket at Nagpur being good
enough to dry the green grass and nullify the
effect of a green top. This wicket should be
able to take turn towards the end of day 3 going
into day 4 and unlike the other wickets, this
one will still be good for batting towards the
latter half of the test because of the hardness
of the soil. Yet again, the Aussies will be put
to a test of their fitness as the heat in Nagpur
will be dry but player comfort due to less
humidity should be manageable. One doesn't know
rocket science to predict what the captains will
do if they win the toss - the answer bat first,
and so they should.
India:
After the curse of the rain gods at Chennai, the
lads are all geared up for yet another showdown
at Nagpur. Credit must be given to the
Indians for putting up a brave effort even
though the desired result was not yielded. This
is a do-or-die situation again for India and
hopefully they would respond to it positively.
The team has been bolstered by the return of
Sachin Tendulkar, both mentally and in
cricketing terms, as his mere presence is good
enough to lift the side. The batting looked
strong at Chennai with the Sehwag blitzkrieg,
but the rest of the batting is still looking
shaky and vulnerable. It will be time for the
seniors to prove their guts and stand up to be
counted. Yuvraj Singh will be the likely
candidate to get the axe after his disappointing
scores, which means that Parthiv Patel could
be asked to open the innings. Laxman and Dravid
really need to come to the party if India have
to do well in this test. Mohammad Kaif has done
well enough to retain his place in the batting
order and it will be interesting to see how
"rust" and "rest" play a part in Sachin's
comeback game. India's bowling is looking a bit
bleak with the injury to Irfan Pathan. So one
can expect Ajit Agarkar to be back in the line
up along with Zaheer Khan. The spinners are the
ones who have worried the Aussies, and if the
Indians can get a good score on the board yet
again, they will for sure come into their own
with both of them in good form. There are two
areas of improvement for the Indians, one
wicket-keeping and ground fielding. If the
Indians can put up a better show in these two
areas of concern, they would have done well to
restrict the Aussies. I would say that the ball
is in the Indian court, its upto them to play it
or leave it but all in all, this test
match promises a lot as the Indians showed some
spirit in the Chennai test and would be great if
they carried it to Nagpur.
Australia:
The Aussies landed themselves in a comfort zone
before the Chennai Test and going into the test,
they realized what a "Test" match in
India is, as they battled the killer heat and
India's resistance. And they managed to do it
well as they fought throughout the game coming
from behind. It could well be a different
scenario at Nagpur, where a win would help them
decisively conquer the "Final Frontier". The
Aussie batting looks a lot better and assured
than it was at Bangalore. Damien Martyn is back
to form and once he is back to form, its hard to
knock him over. It seems as though every other
batsman apart form Darren Lehmann, who showed
signs of coming to form in the 2nd innings, are
in good form and if everything goes well, the
Aussies will look to bat and bat only once. The
bowling is a partial worry for the Aussies, if I
may say. Shane Warne is picking up wickets, but
at the expense of many runs. Glenn McGrath went
wicketless in the Chennai test and it would be
interesting to see how he fares in his 100th
Test match. The only two bowlers who have
worried the Indians so far are Jason Gillespie
and Micheal Kasprowicz, and they will be holding
the key to Australia's chances in this test
match. We don't expect the ball to reverse swing
as quick as it used to in Bangalore and Chennai
because of the lush green outfield and it would
be interesting to see how they adjust to the
circumstances. The only area of serious concern
for the Aussies is their fielding. They have
been found guilty of dropping as many as 7
catches in the Indian 1st innings at Bangalore.
It is a must to grab everything that comes their
way to give the bowlers like McGrath some
confidence. If they can take those chances, it
only enhances their chances of a good win. It
would be interesting to see if and how the
Aussies bounce back from the conundrums of
Chennai and take it to Nagpur. The winner,
especially Australia takes it all and this will
be one motivating factor they should try to
capitalize on in the Nagpur test and if they do
so, they could well emerge on top.
Both the teams have had a decent rest time
allotted to them and now its back to donning the
whites for their respective countries. The
Indians look the more geared up side for this
Test match, but it would be a battle on the
field that would decide the winner. The Nagpur
wicket is often criticized for producing a
no-result game, but this notion could change
soon if both teams play a hard fought game of
cricket.
Cricketfundas.com Probable XI (subject to
changes on the final list)
India: Virender Sehwag, Parthiv Patel(wk),
Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman,
Saurav Ganguly(c), Mohammad Kaif, Ajit
Agarkar/Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Anil
Kumble and Zaheer Khan
Australia: (Unchanged from Chennai) -
Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Simon Katich,
Damien Martyn, Micheal Clarke, Darren Lehmann,
Adam Gilchrist(c & wk), Shane Warne, Micheal
Kasprovicz, Jason Gillespie, Glenn McGrath
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