Rampaging Aussies, confident Indians prepare for high profile series

Over the last few years, there has not been much excitement on the eve of any international tour to India. But as the Australian team arrives in India on Wednesday, the hype surrounding the visit is unmistakable. The tough talk on both sides, the fact that Australia are on the kind of roll not experienced by any team in history, the fact that the Aussies have not won a Test series in India since 1969-70, the presence of top stars on both sides with the added attraction of some intense personal duels have all contributed to this.

For starters, the Australians want to win in India. Perhaps even desperately. For one thing, they have not won here for so long. The overall record which reads played 29, won nine, lost eight, drawn 11 and tied one does not give a true picture of the contests. Eight of the nine Australian wins have come in the first four contests between 1956 and 1969. Over the last four contests, comprising 13 Tests, Australia have won just one - and that after the series was decided three years ago. Indeed, only on Tuesday, Waugh said his Cricketer of the Year award and his team's record-breaking run would count for little if they lost in India. "India is where we are all going to be judged and we know that and we want to make sure that is a good tour," he said. "The Australian season was fantastic but I have been looking forward to the Indian tour for a long time and, to be honest, if we don't win in India, much of what happened in Australia won't mean a lot to me and a lot of the guys. We are going full steam ahead for the Indian tour and I'm hoping that's where we are going to play our best cricket."

A detailed paper on Indian players and playing conditions has been prepared with statistics and analysis on individual strengths and weaknesses. While this shows the keenness of the Australians to win in India, it also indicates that they are aware that the task ahead of them may not be easy.

Australian manager Steve Bernard has issued a word of caution in an effort to quell any possible complacency on the part of his boys. He has described the tour of India as "the toughest of all. Pakistan is a doddle by comparison".

Coach John Buchanan is quoted to have said that "we want to go over there and win the series 3-0 and we go confident enough to believe we can do this. It is just how well we harness the tremendous amount of raw material at our disposal." All the same, it is apparent that the Australians, despite their dream run, are not overconfident. Indeed, if anything, the fact that they have taken the trouble of making a careful scrutiny of the Indians' strengths and weaknesses in a bid to counter and exploit them shows that they have a healthy respect for the opposition.

Yet, there is no doubting that India have some important factors in their favour as they prepare to extend their three decades of home supremacy over the Australians. Besides the past record of 30 years, which shows that India has had much the better of the encounters between the two countries here, the Aussies will also be up against a well-prepared Indian team bolstered by the presence of former New Zealand captain John Wright as coach and former Australian opening batsman Geoff Marsh as consultant. Wright has already made a difference to the team, thanks to adroit planning at the pre-series conditioning camp. And as predecessor to Buchanan as Australian coach, Marsh knows more about this Australian team than anyone else. He will be able to deliver valuable input which can only add considerably to the home advantage.

Admittedly, there is a big question mark over the Indian spin bowling, particularly in the absence of Anil Kumble. The 30-year-old leg spinner has 276 wickets in 61 Tests at an average of 28 and has been particularly successful against Australia in India - 32 wickets in four Tests at an average of 17.06. But the Australians are no better served in this department despite the presence of the most successful spin bowler in the history of the game. Shane Warne might have 366 wickets in 84 Tests at an average of 25.97. But against India, his figures make for sorry reading - 19 wickets in eight Test at 58 apiece.

In the last series in India in 1998, Tendulkar tore apart Warne, who finished with ten wickets at 54 apiece. But far from being discouraged, Steve Waugh believes Warne will relish a return meeting with his greatest ormentor. "Warnie is a great bowler," Waugh is quoted to have said. "You always back him in a tough situation and Shane is keen for the challenge."

Only a little over a year ago, the Australians made a clean sweep of the three match series `Down Under'. The Indians just could not handle Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and company on the fast and bouncy wickets and were thrashed. But on the featherbed pitches expected in Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai, the Indian batsmen are not likely to be as terrified against McGrath and company.

In fact, Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, who was one of those who took a battering in that series, has issued a warning to the Australians that they could expect a tough Test series, saying his team would not be bowled over easily. "They've had it easy at home, but India will be a different proposition altogether," Ganguly is quoted to have said. Ganguly, as aggressive as ever, has cleverly put all the pressure on the tourists. "We beat them in India twice in 1996 and 1998, so it is the Australians who will be wary of playing us," he has said. "They will have to make all the moves if they want to win. As far as I am concerned, the Indian team is capable of dealing with the challenge," said the Indian captain who is aware that the Australians will be keen to continue their golden run, which in turn puts the pressure on the tourists even more.

The series unfolds against the backdrop that groundsmen have been instructed to prepare lifeless pitches, ostensibly a defensive measure from the Indian angle. Even as these allegations have been denied, Ganguly scoffs at suggestions India will play defensively to avoid losing to the world champions. "It will be a close series. The team which handles the pressure better will win," he has said.

Rarely has an Indian captain indulged in such tough talk. Ganguly has repeatedly made it clear that he is distinctly unimpressed by the 15- match winning streak Australia is bringing with them to India next week. "The Australians are on a winning streak but it is going to be a different ball game in the coming series. They have won most of their games at home, beaten West Indies 5-0 at home, beaten India and Pakistan at home. I agree they are playing good cricket for the last 12 months but it's going to be a different ball game when they come here. We have also been playing well for the last few months with the young boys. I feel both teams have an even chance of winning the series."

Even for a person who is known to be more outspoken in his views than most Indian captains, Ganguly's opinions have been unexpectedly forthright. He has made it clear that he is not worried about the Aussies' strengths and weaknesses. "We are going to play according to our strength. Test and one-day cricket is more of a mind game than anything else." When reminded about paceman Brett Lee not visiting India due to injury, Ganguly typically shot back "we are not bothered about who is in the Australian team. We are all here to be together and work hard to prepare ourselves for winning matches."

The Indian captain has not even spared his Australian counterpart and has questioned how Steve Waugh could make comments about the type of wickets being prepared in India by sitting in Australia. On his part, Waugh, besides saying that he is confident that his side could beat India on any type of pitch, has also not pulled his punches when it has come to attacking the Indian captain verbally.

The war of words has only added spice to the flavour that the impending contest is bound to provide. This is already a high profile series, with the build up, the high expectations and the fact that some of the best players in the game on both sides are waiting to get at each other. And when the Australians arrive in India on Wednesday, they are bound to feel the heat in more ways than one.