Indians are better off starting as underdogs

The long awaited series between India and Australia will get underway in just a few days time and the anticipation among the public is building up rapidly along with the hope that the Indians put a stop to Steve Waugh's winning streak. The verbal sparring between the two captains, Waugh and Ganguly also has contributed to the excitement. Waugh has changed his tack immediately upon his arrival in India but his fast bowlers have taken over from their captain. McGrath and Kasprowicz have decided to go after the little champion Tendulkar which in the latter's case might suggest a hint of nerves. In the last few occasions Kasprowicz was up against Tendulkar, he was carved mercilessly in both forms of the game. McGrath, on the other hand, is gearing himself up for the duels against Tendulkar, which of course will be one of the highlights of the series.

The Australians have surprisingly left out MacGill for this tour which may make a lot of difference considering that he has been performing better than Warne in recent times. I am not suggesting that MacGill should have replaced Warne, but a double leg spin attack would have been quite something to handle on the Indian turning tracks. MacGill unlike Warne does not give too much of time in the air and turns the ball a lot more than Warne. The Indian batsmen have more often than not done well against Warne for the simple reason he likes to throw the gauntlet by flighting the ball. The zip and bounce that Warne gets in Australia will be absent on the slow and low Indian pitches which will enable the home team batsmen to adjust even if they are deceived in the air. Colin Miller, the dual-purpose bowler will have a lot of work to do and he may well end up as the bogeyman for the Indians. A look into the record books would clearly show that a visiting offspinner has had good times in India and history might repeat itself if Miller just bowls a good line and length. Remember Gavin Robertson!

The visitors have already been involved in a couple of lead up matches and their display in those games does not inspire awe. Their batsmen barring Steve Waugh, Ponting and Hayden have struggled to come to terms with the slow turning tracks. Mark Waugh has not had a decent outing so far which only will add to the woes of his twin brother. Their batting problems apart, the medium pacers Fleming and Kasparowicz will have tough times, as they are neither consistent like McGrath nor quick like Brett Lee. However, it would be foolhardy to infer too much based on the performance of the first two warm-up games. The Indians have already announced the squad for the first Test and it does appear that the Australians do not unduly worry them. The combination favoured by Wright and Ganguly is ideal but the dropping of a couple of cricketers raised many eyebrows. Sharandeep Singh and Vijay Dahiya have been dropped despite their good performances in the last Test they figured. Nayan Mongia is recalled but the captain has not lavished praise about the stumper's attitude. The assessment was due to Mongia's reluctance to lead with his chin under crucial situations being one of the most experienced members of the team. One wonders what criterion went in favour of the Baroda wicket keeper. Harbhajan Singh gets a recall based more on a popular demand rather than on his performances. He has been persisted with for his talent but this so far has not been translated into performances at the highest level. Hirwani gets a lifeline after being in the wilderness for more than four seasons. His inclusion is based on the theory that a leg-spinner is more likely to win matches than the finger spinner. Sanghvi the left arm spinner has picked himself into the team with his good performances in recent times. Overall the team has a good balance and the captain does have a lot of options to choose from.

Both the teams have decided to bank on experience realising the importance of this series. What remains to be seen is how well the experience is utilised in what will be a high-pressure series. Basically the Australians cope with pressure better than most nations but they have a lot at stake as they are in search of a Test series victory to back up the near invincible stature achieved over the last one year. In a way the Indians are better off starting as underdogs in the forthcoming series as they have everything to gain. They are in a similar situation as they were before the start of the ICC Trophy a few months ago and Ganguly would obviously be delighted if his boys perform as well as they did in Nairobi. The only difference is that Test cricket is a different ball game altogether but regardless of what transpires, it will not be as an easy task for the Australians to beat India at home.