By Vidooshak
If one makes enough predictions, he is likely to be right. I think I met that threshold. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ishant Yadav were key to India finishing Australia quickly. Both bowled much better than their Test ages. Ashwin, especially, has been a wise bowler who is an ideal replacement for Anil Kumble. He may or may not end up with as many wickets, but he certainly brings that cerebral element to the game.
Umesh Yadav is all heart. It was nice to see him let it rip. He did get pasted on a few occasions, but it was a blast watching him go. India's bowling has come to this game well prepared. For this, Duncan Fletcher must be complimented. Ishant Sharma has been bowling extremely well, although he's been somewhat unlucky not to get wickets.
The story of India's bowling though is Zaheer Khan. He has returned from injury. And how! His bowling keeps batsmen guessing and he has now got an Akramesque feature to this bowling. He can produce unplayable deliveries from nowhere. He doesn't have Akram's pace or raw class, but he's definitely a very dangerous player. Great news for India, if he continues to bowl the way he is and stays healthy.
From a batting stand point, it was important for Virender Sehwag to show up and he did in more ways than one. He got into it with James Pattinson. Although, the latter had the last laugh by bowling him, Sehwag got a measure of the Australian attack. He played with purpose and took the attack to the Aussies as he normally would. He didn't let the early loss of Gautam Gambhir affect him. The Australians now must fear him more than any other Indian batsman, barring VVS Laxman.
Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar played with the predictability and assurance that test cricket demands. Both were cultured knocks worthy of their stature and ability. Tendulkar was a tad unlucky to be out in the last over, but he is now a notch lower than his immortal form and self of before. He has to probably try a little bit harder for the game to come to him than he used to. That doesn't diminish him at all.
India needs to eye a big first innings lead and continue to bowl with purpose. My guess is that Ashwin will play a big hand in India's second innings. Prior to that though, Virat Kohli should take his chance to cement his place in the side.
Pattinson is bowling extremely well and he's certainly a huge find for Australia. But the rest of the bowling has been just about Test class. This includes Ben Hilfenhaus, who was extremely good with the new ball. Pattinson's got the potential to be as good as Dale Steyn. He's aggressive, has raw pace and a potent outswinger. Maybe he needs to develop the one has comes in to be up there, but he looks ready and able.
(Vidooshak is a blogger @Opinions on Cricket. He was drawn into cricket by Golandaaz as a schoolboy. His bluster overshadows his cricketing ability. He played as a wicket-keeper in a college team but was promptly dropped. The college selection committee had slightly higher standards than Pakistani selectors. He did reasonably well in tennis ball cricket until he was benched for a final game by the team that he captained. To say some of it was due to his opinions would be an understatement of sorts. Regardless, Vidooshak finds time to opinionate relentlessly and lives a vicarious life by watching cricket teams make obvious mistakes. Good news for Vidooshak is that someone always loses a cricket game, someone always gets belted and someone always flops. Vidooshak always looks for an alternative explanation and rarely agrees with mainstream consensus. Needless to say he has no friends, only ‘tolerators’! While not throwing his weight around, Vidooshak does not run marathons or draw pictures, but reads voraciously on all topics, volunteers at local failing schools, is an avid but average golfer and runs an Indian association in mid-west America)
If one makes enough predictions, he is likely to be right. I think I met that threshold. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ishant Yadav were key to India finishing Australia quickly. Both bowled much better than their Test ages. Ashwin, especially, has been a wise bowler who is an ideal replacement for Anil Kumble. He may or may not end up with as many wickets, but he certainly brings that cerebral element to the game.
Umesh Yadav is all heart. It was nice to see him let it rip. He did get pasted on a few occasions, but it was a blast watching him go. India's bowling has come to this game well prepared. For this, Duncan Fletcher must be complimented. Ishant Sharma has been bowling extremely well, although he's been somewhat unlucky not to get wickets.
The story of India's bowling though is Zaheer Khan. He has returned from injury. And how! His bowling keeps batsmen guessing and he has now got an Akramesque feature to this bowling. He can produce unplayable deliveries from nowhere. He doesn't have Akram's pace or raw class, but he's definitely a very dangerous player. Great news for India, if he continues to bowl the way he is and stays healthy.
From a batting stand point, it was important for Virender Sehwag to show up and he did in more ways than one. He got into it with James Pattinson. Although, the latter had the last laugh by bowling him, Sehwag got a measure of the Australian attack. He played with purpose and took the attack to the Aussies as he normally would. He didn't let the early loss of Gautam Gambhir affect him. The Australians now must fear him more than any other Indian batsman, barring VVS Laxman.
Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar played with the predictability and assurance that test cricket demands. Both were cultured knocks worthy of their stature and ability. Tendulkar was a tad unlucky to be out in the last over, but he is now a notch lower than his immortal form and self of before. He has to probably try a little bit harder for the game to come to him than he used to. That doesn't diminish him at all.
India needs to eye a big first innings lead and continue to bowl with purpose. My guess is that Ashwin will play a big hand in India's second innings. Prior to that though, Virat Kohli should take his chance to cement his place in the side.
Pattinson is bowling extremely well and he's certainly a huge find for Australia. But the rest of the bowling has been just about Test class. This includes Ben Hilfenhaus, who was extremely good with the new ball. Pattinson's got the potential to be as good as Dale Steyn. He's aggressive, has raw pace and a potent outswinger. Maybe he needs to develop the one has comes in to be up there, but he looks ready and able.
(Vidooshak is a blogger @Opinions on Cricket. He was drawn into cricket by Golandaaz as a schoolboy. His bluster overshadows his cricketing ability. He played as a wicket-keeper in a college team but was promptly dropped. The college selection committee had slightly higher standards than Pakistani selectors. He did reasonably well in tennis ball cricket until he was benched for a final game by the team that he captained. To say some of it was due to his opinions would be an understatement of sorts. Regardless, Vidooshak finds time to opinionate relentlessly and lives a vicarious life by watching cricket teams make obvious mistakes. Good news for Vidooshak is that someone always loses a cricket game, someone always gets belted and someone always flops. Vidooshak always looks for an alternative explanation and rarely agrees with mainstream consensus. Needless to say he has no friends, only ‘tolerators’! While not throwing his weight around, Vidooshak does not run marathons or draw pictures, but reads voraciously on all topics, volunteers at local failing schools, is an avid but average golfer and runs an Indian association in mid-west America)
