Acid Test is awaiting Dhoni at Perth...

Acid test is awaiting captain Dhoni at Perth, when Team India will take on resurgent Aussies in 3rd test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India already down 2-0 and will be playing at Perth to save the series. Loss at Perth will shatter all the hopes of Indian fans and win will certainly bring smile on the grim faces. But it is not going to be that easy for Team India. Although, history is with Team India, if Team India take some inspiration from last tour, in which they won at Perth, then I believe their task will become simple. 

Talking about resources, I think team India have all the arsenal in the world to beat Aussies, only thing required is little application by batters and bowlers, also require some impeccable and offensive strategy from Captain Dhoni. If Dhoni continue his defensive tantrums, then it will going to be difficult task for Team India at Perth.First of all, Dhoni will have to select correct personnel to fight this battle and first change he has to make is to replace out of form Virat Kohli with talented Rohit Sharma. Everybody knows Rohit Sharma is far more talented than any other youngster at present. So its right time for Rohit to make his debut. There is also good sign for Team India, as all the batsmen except Kohli have the half century under their belt going into this test, so form of the batsmen is not going to be a problem. Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Gambhir and Sehwag had spent fair bit of time out in the middle in last two test matches only problem they faced, that they couldn't convert those 50s into big hundreds and that's where these batsmen have to be careful. Especially, for Tendulkar, it will going to be a important test match to score his 100th ton and he can take inspiration from his 1991 innings, in which he scored brilliant hundred at the same venue and announced his arrival in International cricket. Tendulkar must get rid of that monkey on his back which is haunting him for last one year. 

Talking about bowling, I believe India have all the resources in place in this department and bowlers need little cushion of runs. Bowlers also need aggressive and appropriate field placings as Umesh, Zaheer and Ishant are bowling quick with good rhythm, if they get little support from Dhoni, then I think they can pick 20 wickets without any problem. Conditions in Perth will also favour the bowlers as pitch is going to be green top and will have lot of bounce which will assist quickies to pick wickets, only thing is required from the bowlers is to put the ball in right areas and allow the pitch to do the trick. Perth wicket is heaven for the fast bowlers, if bowlers apply their mind then they will be able to trouble all the Aussie batsmen. Toss will going to be a crucial factor in this game as whoever wins the toss will opt to field first. So, its important for Dhoni to win the toss and go for the kill. Ashwin will certainly enjoy bowling at Perth due to good bounce from the pitch. He is tall and will extract good amount of bounce which will trouble Aussie batsmen. It's going to be golden chance for Rohit Sharma to prove his batting prowess, if he gets the nod to make his debut. 

As far as Australia is concerned, they will be under no pressure, whatsoever, going into this test match, as they are enjoying unassailable lead in the series. Ponting and Hussey are back among runs and got rid of sword which was hanging on their heads before  start of the series and this is not going to make life  of the Indians easy as they allowed Ponting and Hussey to got among the runs in last two test matches. Captain Clarke is in sublime from, must be in immense confidence after hitting that brilliant triple hundred at Sydney. So Aussie batsmen are in full form and looking good to score few more runs. Bad news for Australia is that, young bowling sensation Pattinson is ruled out of the series due to injury which can be a good news for India but Aussies have able replacement for Pattinson and that is Ryan Harris, who had dream test match against England on the very same venue last time when he appeared for Australia. Siddle, Hilfenhaus and Harris makes formidable combination to trouble Indian batsmen, taking into account, the pitch condition. I believe they will certainly trouble Indian batsmen. So, Indian batsmen have to apply themselves hard to   tackle these world class bowlers who are deadly dangerous in their home conditions.

News of rift between Sehwag and Dhoni will certainly not going to help the cause of Indian team and they have to forget all the differences going into this test match. So, its going to be hard fought contest at Perth and looking at all the points, I believe Aussies are favourite to win this test match as well unless they make any mistake, as they say 'Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties'. This 3rd test will also decide the future of Dhoni as test captain of Team India. Hope, India come out of Perth with flying colours, just like they did last time. But, at the moment it is highly unlike.  

 

Will Team India break the jinx down under : Preview - Agneepath Series

Agneepath! Agneepath! Agneepath!

9 tours, 36 test matches and only 5 wins, is the history of Team India down under. It can be considered worst performance for the country which produced legends like Gavaskar, Mankad duo, Amarnath duo, Tiger Pataudi, Kapil Dev, Mohd. Azharuddin, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag. Above all, in last 9 tours Team India failed to win series as well, in Australia. As a cricket fan I really fail to understand why we were not able to win a single series down under so far inspite of having players, who are considered as legends, kings and gods of cricket. Its really sad for the fans of this country that they witnessed only series loss and draws down under in last 60 years. There are individual performances which really kept alive the interests of Indian fans but in terms of team performance it is really a sad state of affair for the country where cricket is considered as religion.

Michael Clarke vs Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Again Team India is on tour, down under, stage is set, all tickets for the Boxing Day test  match which begins on 26th December, at famous Melbourne Cricket Ground has been sold out in advance. One last time legends like Tendulkars, Dravids and Laxmans will go at Aussies and Indian fans hoping that this time team will not return empty handed. There is reason behind this hope is that Aussies are not the best test side in the world today as they used to be couple of years back and it will  going to be easy to beat the depleted Aussies. But I must say, it will not going to be easy for Team India to win the series this time round as well, no matter how vulnerable Aussies are currently. Aussies don't have the brilliance of Waugh Duo, Gilchrist, Langer, Hayden, McGrath, Warne and Brett Lee but they have the players who will certainly upset this Indian side and main reason for this,  is poor team selection by Indian selectors. India already looks more vulnerable than Aussies atleast in bowling department as their two main bowlers in Ishant and Zaheer are not 100% fit, moreover, they have very poor back-ups in Abhimanyu Mithun and Vinay Kumar who are not test class bowlers. So Indian bowling is weak and to win the test match you have to pick 20 wickets. If any of the bowler breaks down mid-way, in the test match then it will certainly not help the cause of Indian team. So onus of bowling more is on the shoulders of young Ashwin and Yadav who will be playing their second test series of their career and that too on the soil of Australia.

Ishant Sharma

Selectors have done big mistake by not picking Irfan Pathan and Ashok Dinda ahead of Mithun and Vinay Kumar. Both Dinda and Irfan are in superb form and picking up wickets consistently in domestic tournament in India but I think selectors have already decided the fate of Team India and if fans are thinking that India will win the series this time then I think this is a day dream, because this will not going to happen. Conditions will be tough and Austrlians will come hard at Indian team. Mindgames have been already started from the Australian side and the way Aussies are preparing and targetting Indian players off the field is the indication of what will happen on the field where Aussies will try and dominate the Indian side. Only hope for India, is from its world famous batting line-up which boasts of Sehwag, Gambhir, Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman who are capable of winning the test matches  but they also need back-up from the bowlers which is not in existence at the moment. Only fully-fit and in-form bowler is Umesh Yadav in pace department and Ashwin in spin apart from these two rest of the bowlers are not fully fit or they are not in great form.

Rohit Sharma

I believe Team India must play Rohit Sharma ahead of Virat Kohli because Rohit has better technique compared to Virat and will do wonders but I know this will not going to happen as team india will go with Virat Kohli and I am 100% sure that he will fail. This is also a very important series for Tendulkar, will be remembered for long time if Tendulkar get to his epic ton because wait has become too long and fans can't wait anymore. This series will also test the cpatain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's captaincy, he will be under immense pressure during this series because of drubbing in England where first time Dhoni lost the test series as a captain. This will going to be a acid test for Dhoni and Fletcher.

Warner, Cutting, Starc and Pattinson

As far as Aussies are considered they do have the problems in plenty, but they have the advantage of playing in home conditions and their batting line-up will face mediocre bowling attack so they are in poor position, but in better condition than Team india. I am damn sure Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey will get back among the runs as both are class act and as they say 'Form is temporary and Class is permanent'. So there will be no surprise, if Ricky and Hussey  score big runs in this series. After departure of Simon Katich it looked like Australia don't have any opener but they found Warner and with the return of Shaun Marsh they have pretty good opening pair. It is good that Aussie selectors dropped Phil Hughes who failed to impress anybody but I think dropping Usman Khwaja is bit harsh, to the guy who is considered as promising youngster. Aussies have good bowling line-up now, even though they don't have Johnson and Watson in their line-up. They have some in-form bowlers like Pattinson, Hilfenhaus and Siddle who are capable of bowling in excess of 90 MHP speeds, will prove dangerous on bouncy wickets for any opposition in the world. So Aussies are in advantageous position going into the series and India has damaged their chances of winning by picking up the unfit bowlers which will going to hurt India big time.

So less than 48 hours remaining for this  'Agneepath Series' and Indian fans will certainly wake up at 5.00 AM to watch all the action from down under in a hope that Team India starts the seires with a winning note and finally win the series and end the drought but Indian selectors and team management are not serious enough to win this series.Will india  be able to hit, knockout punch on boxing day? My guess is as good as any other cricket fan.

Prevew: QF-2 Litmus test ahead for the Aussies against Indians at Motera.

Thursday is going to be a D-Day for India as well as Australia. One will succeed in achieving their goals another one will go home . 4 time champions and 3 consecutive time winners of the World Cup trophy, can Aussies pass the litmus test? According to law of averages they will fail but you never count them out because they are virtually invincibles. For India, Champion of 1983 edition, this is the biggest occasion to show the world that they are the top side in the World and they are still favourites to win the trophy. Its a final before the final. Its revenge time for India. Its time to settle few old scores which is haunting Indian team and Indian cricket for very long. Its time to break the arrogance of the most arrogant team in the world. Will Dhoni and his men do it?

It is the ground where history created many times. Legendary Sunil Gavaskar reached his  landmark of 10000 runs and became first cricketer to achieve that feat. Kapil Dev broke the record of highest wickets of Sir Richard Hadlee on this very ground when he claimed 432nd wicket. This ground also witnessed first double century of Sachin Tendulkar in test cricket. So as far as records are concern Motera ground is happy hunting ground for the Indians but their ODI record is poor on this ground as they lost 7 matches out of 13. So this record is speaking against Indians.

India possess best batting line-up in the World  at the moment but that batting failed to an extent in the tournament so far. Tendulkar and Sehwag are among the highest run-getters but middle-order failed to impress so far and often Indian batting collapsed in the tournament after getting into good positions. I think India have to rectify that and they have to sort out the 'Powerplay Ghost' immediately because thats where Team India is losing the plot. But there is good thing that Team India is collapsing after reaching good scores and that will give them some solace when they take on mighty Aussies at Motera in Ahmedabad. So far India played on the venues where they got flat pitches and Motera will  not going to be different one. 

Indian batting will get some more strength with the return of its swashbuckling opener Virender Sehwag who missed the last group stage game against West Indies due to allergic reaction in the knee. Sehwag's sheer presence on the crease is enough to demoralise the opposition. Who can forget his 83 run innings against Australia in 2003 World Cup finals at Johannesburg. He was the only batsmen who took on mighty Aussies in that game. So top-order batting is not that bigger concern for India it is middle-order and lower-order which has failed to score runs when required. 

India's bowling was considered its weakest link and it was matter of concern till the match against West Indies  but with the inclusion of R. Ashwin it has certainly got teeth to its attack. So far Zaheer Khan was the lone warrior but now he will get good enough support from Ashwin and Harbhajan has also showed the signs of improvement since last few matches, so bowling is no more weak link. One can also keep in mind that so far Indian bowlers bowled on the flat tracks where opposition bowlers were also gone for plenty so I think in Ahmedabad if Indian bowlers will go for runs then Aussie bowlers will also leak plenty of runs. I think more than bowling Dhoni have to work on the field placings because field placings often affect the bowler's performance. So far Dhoni set defensive fields and never tried to attack the  opposition batsmen and thats where India faltered. I think Dhoni have to be offensive in the field placings. I think Harbhajan and Ashwin must have silly point, slip and a short leg when they are bowling. Dhoni have to keep atleast 5 fielders in the ring  in order to stop the quick singles so that will create pressure on opposition batsmen to go for big shots and that    will give chance to the bowlers to pick up wickets. So field placings have to be spot-on and no easy singles for the opposition batsmen if India wants to stop its opposition from getting big score.

Aussies are coming into match with a defeat under their belt at the hands of Pakistan. Pakistan broke their consecutive 34 matches winning streak in the World Cup and Australians will be over-cautious in the match against India. Form of captain Ricky Ponting is big concern for Australia but he is a big match player and he is one innings away from hitting the form and its possible that he hits the form against India because he was the one who scored 140 runs of 121 balls against India in 2003 World Cup finals which eventually Australia won. So Aussies must be expecting similar kind of innings from Ponting at Motera if they want to go into semis. Motera wicket will be a belter and it will give good opportunity to Ricky Ponting to score half-century or century. So India have to be cautious of that and try to pick Ricky as early as possible. Brett Lee and Shane Watson are the back-bone of Australian team. If these two will perform to their potential in this crucial game then Australia will certainly win this game. Brett Lee is the only bowler who got Sachin Tendulkar out 14 times in 39 games most by any bowler in the world. So Sachin v/s Lee will going to be mouth-watering contest.

Australia have few middle-order batting issues like India and their middle-order have to click at any cost at Motera. If their midlle-order fails which often happened in the tournament so far then this will going to be their last match in this World Cup. Another problem is their spin department. They don't have quality spinner in their ranks who can run through the side which is required badly in the sub-continental conditions. They must be missing Shane Warne badly as Jason Krezja failed to impress so far and Steve Smith, the leg-spinner has been not utilized much by Ponting. So big headache  for Ponting as far as spin bowling is concern and Aussies batsmen themselves are vulnerable against spinners. If we talk about Shaun Tait and Mitchel Johnson then Tait looked liability so far  and Johnson has picked up wickets but in patches as there is no consistency seen in Johnson's bowling and flat wicket of Motera will not serve very well to the Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson. Ponting have to come out with innovative plans to tackle strong Indian batting line-up other wise high scoring game is on cards at Motera.

This is the contest which cricket lovers waiting for a while and it will be interesting to see who will advance to the semis because it is evenly balanced contest.