There has been a lot of talk about how the Aussies have lost their invincibility and more importantly the reasons attributed to the same-ranging from – Retirement of Shane Warne/Glenn Mcgrath/Adam Gilchrist, the lack of form of Brett Lee and Ponting losing his marbles and how he has suddenly become a bad captain (Dhoni being the new genius!). I have always believed Ponting was never a great captain and will never be one- I am sure the likes of Mark Taylor / Hansie Cronje and Stephen fleming are being seriously offended by these claims by the media- Great player, he is but definitely not a great captain. Another of such myths is that the difference between the 2 sides has always been Gilly- Let me be the one to break this one- Gilly averages 27.89 against us as compared to a career average of close to 48. Whilst I fully understand that he offered them the luxury of playing another all rounder- Brad Haddin offers the same and hence his effect has been nullified.
Before I start giving my reasons for their failings, I have to admit that I haven’t watched the series ball by ball and have only watched 1.5 sessions per day owing to the odd timings at which the game starts. But it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out. Let me also put my neck on the line and say that Aussies are not on a decline and will come back quite strongly and not surprisingly it would the England in the ashes who will face the brunt!
The biggest reason for their failings in India is the lack of a quality spinner- No shit Sherlock!! But hear me out- They don’t need a spinner who will run through the Indian top order like a hot knife through butter (or Cristiano Ronaldo through a premier league defense –Hehe!) They need a steady spinner who will keep an end tight and allow the likes of Lee Johnson and Clarke to go about their business. The opposition that has done well in India had players like Nicky Boje /Pat Symcox/Paul Harris/Ashley Giles - Not world beaters but people who are willing to do the dirty job for you. It’s a shame that Brad Hogg has retired as he would have offered this and a little more! How the aussies would kill for a spinner like Greg Mathews now? Also can someone please explain the wisdom of playing Cameron white- The man has the control of a drunk lunatic in a skating ring? If he is offering extra batting depth then what the hell is Watson doing? Play a proper spinner for f*ck sake
What in god’s name was Andrew Symonds thinking when he went fishing instead of attending the team meeting? If I was him and I was the one racially abused as he and the rest of the Australian team have been claiming I will be waiting for my chance to come to India and put Harbhajan in his place – Show him who the better player is. As wonderful as an alternative that Shane Watson provides he does not intimidate the Indians as much as Simmo does. That’s the reason everyone goes after him. The aussie middle order is not attacking the Indian spinners as much as they should- Come on after all India are playing a spinner who is still wet behind his ears. Attack them on the field and then start throwing the words. That has been Ian Chappell and Steve Waugh’s mantra all through the years and as much as we all hate it none of us can claim it has not worked. Further, he would have provided an excellent defensive spin bowling option.
Over the years, I am the Aussies have learned that they should not be sledging a few people – Brian Lara/Viv Richards/Chris Gayle to name a few. I remember Lara scoring a rather measured 213 against Australia and thanking Ponting for giving him the challenge he needed after Lara had a shocker of 30 minutes against Lee and Mcgrath and Ricky had some choice words for him. Most of the current Indian crop falls into this category – Dhoni/Harbhajan/Ishant seem to perform better if someone is having a go at them- Let your cricket do the talking and after all they are the best side in the world and have enough ammunition in the armory to beat India or at least pick your targets right
Having said all this I am thoroughly impressed with the way Indians have played thus far in the series and special mention to Sourav for not making his farewell series a media circus. Indian cricket is definitely on the ascendency and there is no denying it. At the moment there is nothing better the world cricket can offer than a closely fought India vs Australia series and this series has been a let down from neutrals perspective because the Real Oz haven’t turned up. I for one am hoping for better contest in the 3rd and 4th Test
Cheers
S
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4 comments:
Apart from missing a genuine spinner they are also missing the consistency of the middle order and Hayden failing to click. I don’t think Clarke is in the same class of Mcgrath, you can clearly see the difference.
I don’t think Aussie will dominate as they did in the last decade.
Yeah kind of agree with you that Symo and a lack of spinner is causing the aussie's a lot of problems..
But if you do remember last time around their quicks were in pretty good form. This time around it looks like Lee isnt firing and the other rookies arent doing their jobs as well!!
I totally agree with you about Ponting not being a good captain. I believe that a Captain is always as good as his team and there are very few like Ranatunga, Imran, Stephen Fleming, Allan Border, who transform ordinary sides to world beating ones.
I think one of the other reasons that Australia has struggled is Matty Hayden. He has been a bully at teh top of the order scoring at a brisk pace. That has always put Indians on teh back foot, but this searies we havent seen that yet.
The Indian team is shaping up very well, though its only going to be ruffled again, with teh Fab 5 decicing to move on. The bench strength is positive though.
Australians bounsing back will depend on how SA and NZ play Aus in Aus. If the Aussies have a couple of bad series in a row, thats when they will go thru large scale changes. Last time round, SA lost 6-0 after India had done well against Aussies, I hope this time they do better.
write abt something other than cricket na
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