Second test

I don't even have an interest to do a proper post on this test match, so here are a few opinions from around the world

Indian spin against Protea pace

I wish it would be so but in reality this match's gonna most probably end up as another listless draw.

Teams look to turn on the heat

Hope they don't wilt under the hot Ahmedabad sun instead.

Frankly I don't see how this Pitch, where the last four games produced only one result buck that trend. It is a blessing in disguise that Sachin is not fit for this match, opening up an opportunity for Pathan to play giving Kumble a much needed fifth bowling option. I still don't understand why the Indians go in with a 4-man attack even on such docile pitches, forgetting that to win test matches you need to take 20 wickets. I would like to see them extending this five bowler policy to all the test matches played in Sub-continent, if need be have Pathan open instead of jaffer or even drop Dhoni and get Dinesh Karthik back into the team in case the team management thinks it's too much to ask form Pathan, to open. Most probably Piyush chawla will be picked ahead of RP, who was quite disappointing in the Chennai test and I doubt if he is back to full fitness, judging by his lackluster fielding display.

South Africa on the other hand look settled with the same team that played the 1'st test being lined up to play the 2'nd one too. They need to be more inventive and attacking while bowling if they are to get the Indian batsmen out and the line that Paul harris bowled for most part of the Indian innings was pathetic, you just don't bowl a leg stump line when you have a score of 540 on board. I know if you want to win in sub-continent you need to be patient but that doesn't mean you have to be negative.

My gut feeling says that it would be an Indian win, if Bajji can replicate his performance in the second innings of the Chennai test over here, now that Kumble is not 100 % fit. Otherwise this match will be another high scoring draw provided the teams don't have a collective brain freeze.

Battle of the two Challengers

After the high profile India-Australia test series, this series between the Potreas and India has not created much buzz as one would have expected but make no mistake, it has got all the ingredients to match if not better the series that India played last, down under, be it quality wise or personality clashes wise. For starters a win in this series will catapult the winning team as the real challenger to the Australian dominance, and maybe herald a new era in cricket.

Both teams are coming back of impressive performances, with India winning a test series against England in England, then beating Pakistan Comprehensively in India and holding their own against Australia though losing by a 2-1 margin which could have easily ended up in their favor had they have some luck. While South Africa have completely demolished Pakistan, New Zealand, West Indies and Bangladesh till date, and should be more than eager to take this series proving that they are the rightful contenders to challenge Australia.

India for it's part looks solid with the fab 4 and sehwag making up the batting order, while you have the ever reliable Kumble leading the bowling front which should have Rp and Sreesanth making up the fast bowlers and the other spinners place going to Bajji, for whom I think it's his last chance to resurrect his test career. This series also presents Dhoni and Jaffer a good chance to redeem themselves with the bat after a rather forgetful tour down under. With the test being played in Chepauk, you can bet your last penny that Sachin will play a special knock as he has been doing every time he plays in this stadium. Who can forget his twin hundreds against the Aussies which set up memorable wins or the brilliant century against Pakistan, though coming in a lost cause. If it's chennai then heat and humidity will play a major role thereby making a fast bowlers life a living hell. Kumble would have to use RP and Sreesanth in short bursts and we might even see Ganguly turning his arm over for a few overs.

As was the case in the series against Pakistan, Kallis form will go a long way in hiding the deficiencies of other batsmen present in the SA team. Graeme Smith for all his records has never been the same kind of batsmen that he is against the minnows will facing up to a quality bowling attack so this series will provide him another opportunity to correct that, which I doubt he will do. Rest of the batsmen just make up the numbers and the onus in on them to make it count. The real strength of this South African team has been it's bowling attack and that's mainly because of the form that Dale Steyn has been of late. This is the first time that he is facing up against a quality batting order and how he performs might as well be the deciding factor in this series. Morkel though a bit raw, can on his day be as devastating as Steyn, Ntini has never been a good bet on the sub-continental wickets. Paul harris is another one whom everyone expects to trouble the Indian batsmen, with their history of becoming undone while facing a left arm spinner, which I think is an anomaly waiting to be corrected.

All said and done, I have a feeling that South Africans will miss the services of Shaun Pollock who has a great record against India and also someone who can tie up one end. Chris Gayle showed that Dale Steyn when attacked is not the same bowler he is when on song and this is where having Sehwag in the team helps immensely. Going by the media reports, Sachin seems geared up for the contest, with practicing for a little bit extra and that's never a good sign for the opposition. I would pick the Indians to win this game in Chepauk, if not the match will end up as a draw.

A tame draw

I don't remember the last time I saw an Australian team playing for a draw, it pretty much shows how rattled they were from the Perth's loss.

Kumble won the toss and elected to bat, Sachin helped himself to another century, Laxman as usual threw away his wicket when he was well set for a big one. Just to rub it in kumble almost got his second century before running out of partners or patience which ever way you want to look at it. When the Australians turn came to bat, Hayden hit his third century of this series and Indians had their task cut out when RP Singh pulled out injured. Ricky Pointing and Michael Clarke scored a century each and it was nice to see Pointing being made to work for his runs. By the time their innings folded, there were only two results possible either a draw or an Australian victory, which was stretching it a bit too far.

Second time around Sehwag finally proved to all and sundry that he belongs to this level by playing one of the best knocks played in this series, which in a way saved India from an embarrassing situation. Actually by the end of day 3, I lost complete interest in this test match save for the chance to see Adam Gilchrist play one last time, was more than disappointed when Sehwag held on that catch which dismissed Gilly. Test matches involving Australia won't be the same any more at least for me with Gilly gone.

The score line of 1-1 would have been apt for this series but I guess, 2-1 ain't that bad either.

Wanted An Encore at Adelaide

Fours years back, India did the unthinkable beating Australia in Australia even after getting tonked for 400 runs on the first day of the test match with Ricky Pointing going on hit a monumental double century, and then India lost 4 wickets for less then 100 runs on board. As was the case in Kolkatta , Rahul dravid & VVS Laxman had other plans and put on a partnership of 300+ runs after which, Agarkar joined the party with some great seam bowling and skittled out Australia for a score of less than 200. The target of 230 was achieved and for the first time since the days of Allan Border, a visiting team went one up on the Aussies.

If Rahul Dravid and Laxman come to the party this time around as they did in 2003-04 then it's going to be a tall task for the Aussies to force the result in their favor and then there is a small thing of Sachin Tendulkar, who might want to make amends to the modest record he has over here, as always he looks solid and I won't be surprised if he signs off this test match, which most probably will be his last test in Australia, with one of his special knocks. Jaffer has been having a pretty poor series and I think he will be dropped for this test match and won't be surprised if Bajji is brought in his place, as the pitch over here suits spin bowling. That being the case I think Pathan will open with Sehwag, as Dravid has never been comfortable with opening. Once again Dinesh Karthik being unlucky to be left out, but his chance will come sooner or later.

Australia have no such worries with Matthew Hayden coming in for Chris rogers, which should be a big relief for them with those twin failures of the top-order, in both the innings of the Perth test. Shaun Tait might be replaced with Brad Hogg, who has to deliver the goods for this might be his last chance to resurrect his test career with Stuart MacGill breathing down his neck.

After the performance in Perth the Indians will be cock-a-hoop and Australia will be looking to win this match, and show that Perth was just an aberration. India was the last country against whom Australia lost back-to-back test matches and if Aussies do lose again in Adelaide, won't be a surprise to me.

India stops the Aussie Juggernaut , Yet again

Yup that's right for the second time running, Australia's winning streak of 16 consecutive wins has been brought to an end by India. This time though it was a collective effort with everyone chipping in and India being in control of the match for the most part unlike the last time in Kolkatta, where it was more of VVS Laxman, Dravid& bajji against a much stronger Australian team, but then a win in WACA has to be right up there to be cherished along with the best of the wins.

VVS Laxman again showed how important he is to the teams cause especially in the second innings with a mature and composed knock, dhoni and then RP singh did well to give him support. From there on it was India all the way with Pathan picking up both the openers quite early in the innings, then the most riveting contest between ball and bat was played on by Pointing and Ishant Sharma, who bowled one of the best spells I've seen and it paid of when he finally got Pointing's wicket. Symonds at last ran out of all his luck, and was pretty unlucky to be judged leg before of an inside edge. Sehwag then provided a couple of breakthroughs before Mitchell Johnson took on Kumble to provide some later order biffing along with Stuart Clarke, before Pathan and RP cleaned up the last two wickets.

It is always nice to win against Australia in Australia but then winning in WACA makes it even better, If Australia can be beaten in WACA then they can be beaten any where and now the onus is on the other teams to push them. Can't wait up for the Adelaide test to begin.

P.S: On the side note the ODI team for CB series was announced with no Ganguly, Dravid or Laxman in the team. I think it would do both gangs & dravid a well of good if they retire from ODI's and concentrate on tests.

The Pitch that wasn't to be

Before the start of the game everyone was of an opinion that, this pitch was going to red hot and Australians in particular were licking their lips at the prospect of Bret Lee and Shaun Tait having a go at the Indians. It wasn't to be, although this pitch had more pace and bounce compared to the ones in Sydney and Melbourne, it was not all that alarming or was the Indian batting line up as weak as the black caps one, who were annihilated by the pace of Lee and Tait in the 20-20 match they played here in WACA last year.

Sehwag and Jaffer set the tone early in the innings with a quick 50 run partnership before Lee found his mojo after changing ends to take out jaffer, who once again was found wanting with minimal foot work. Sehwag as is his wont, after doing all the hard work fell for a nothing short under edging one to Gilli of Johnson's bowling. Sachin and Dravid then set about to build on the opening stand in contrasting ways with Sachin doing the bulk of the scoring in the first half of the partnership through some upper cuts and well judged running between the wickets, Dravid started slow but a brilliant cover drive of Johnson was all it needed for him to grow into confidence and score freely. The 138-run partnership was broken when Lee had Sachin adjudged leg before, a dubious decision with the ball comfortably going over the stumps. Ganguly departed soon playing away from his body, VVS and Dravid threw their wickets away with some shoddy shot selection. Dhoni along with Pathan faught hard to deny Australia the initiative but it was only a matter of time before he has back in hutch and that opened up the floodgates as India lost the last four wickets for two runs. If some one had told me that India would make 330 on this wicket before the start of the match, I would have taken it happily after watching them play all these years on fast bouncy wickets. Bret Lee was again by far the best bowler in this innings and Clark was as usual parsimonious. Johnson was good in patches but over all ineffective but it was Shaun Tait who let his side down with a listless performance, he neither had control or the pace to pose questions to the batsmen.

Australia were in new charters as far as their batting line is concerned with two relatively inexperienced batsmen first up and boy would they have to liked to have Matthew Hayden in the line up, as both the left handers were found wanting in face of some brilliant swing bowling from Irfan Pathan though Chris rogers was a tad unlucky to be give out LBW. Soon RP joined the party by having Hussey caught behind for a duck, first one for Hussey and not a bad time to get one as far as the Indians were concerned. Ishant Sharma then showed why he is rated so high in the domestic circles by taking out Pointing and Clarke with similar deliveries, I am very much impressed by this lad and should say am pretty excited to see how his career pans out.Symonds and Gillchrist played some fantastic cricket before Kumble had Symonds caught at slip, for a well played 66. That wicket being Kumble's 600'th test wicket, which deserves a post by itself to grace the occasion. Gilli fell to a jaffa from RP, the end was swift after that with RP polishing of lee and clark before Kumble accounted for Tait. Aussie innings folded up for a below par score of 212 and India now have a very handy lead of 118 runs, which puts them right in the driving seat.

The story so far in this test match has been how an inexperienced Indian bowling attack out bowled the Australian attack, and it again proves that Australia are not comfortable playing the swinging ball, 2005' Ashes anyone? Pathan and RP were very impressive with the new ball, not only getting the ball to swing but also putting it in the right areas, which would have made Wasim Akram proud, who was watching them bowl from the commentary box. Just hope India doesn't go into a defensive mode and do something silly in the second innings like they did in the last test match they played against SA for they won't get a better chance than this to put one across the Aussies

WACA-Perth

Last time around when India played a test match on this ground, a certain gentleman called Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar announced himself to the world, playing one of his best knocks, all this at the age of 18. Still that was not enough as India lost the match eventually by a pretty big margin. Also this was the last time that Australia went with an all pace attack, after 16 years down the road, they are once again going into this test match with four pace bowlers.

Shaun Tait gets a game, that can be good news for India because for all that pace he generates, is pretty erratic and scoring against his bowling should not be a problem, provided they can see off Bret lee and Stuart Clark.

Hayden is injured so Chris Rogers get to make his debut on his home ground. Other than that the Aussie batting looks solid as usual and the Indians better be vary of Gilchrist because he hit a 57-ball century against England in the last test match played here.

Indians have finally decided to drop Yuvraj, Sehwag comes in for him and should open which means Dravid will come to bat in his regular batting position. Sehwag can be the trump card on this kind off a wicket, which suits his batting style. Other change should be Pathan coming in place of Bajji, taking the pitch into consideration but stranger things have happened on this tour that make me a bit skeptical.

The pitch at WACA seems to have finally got back it's pace and bounce which made fast bowlers queuing up to have a bowl here in the past . Judging by the previous track record, you might want to punt against India but Indians have showed so far that they are up for it and I won't be surprised if they pull a fast one on Australia, provided the batsmen stick to their task and put up a decent score on the board.

Australia Equals The Record

Of 16 consecutive test wins, set not so long back by the same Australians under Steven Waugh and i don't see why they can't better it especially with the next test being played in Perth. As has been the case for the whole test match even this innings had its fair share of dubious decisions going against the Indians, and time has come for Bucknor to quit. This loss really hurts and have to really wonder what the result would have been, had atleast half the decisions gone Indias way but then sport is such and also lets not take anything away from the Australians, who proved again why they are a champion side.

So near, yet so far

That seems to be the story at SCG today for the Indians. Both the spinners bowled their heart out and on other days those close calls might have been wickets, but not today. Hayden got another century and hussey looks like getting his first one against the Indians tomorrow. Bajji again got Pointing's wicket, other than that today's play was boring compared to the last three days. Still all three results are on but realistically from here the game can only go on to be a draw, provided nothing silly is done by either of the teams tomorrow.

Century Number 38

Sachin had to wait for this century for quite a while now, the relief and the celebrations that followed after getting that century told it all as to how badly he wanted it. The whole of last year he got into the habit of getting out in the 90's, for a while it seemed that he couldn't go past those 90's, so it was even the more important that he didn't let it happen again this year. Sachin couldn't have chosen a better occasion to finally get to that 38'th century and more importantly in doing so swing the game India's way.

The platform was set by Laxman yesterday and it was important that one of Ganguly or Sachin go onto make a big score, so that Laxman's effort is not wasted. For a while it looked like Ganguly would be the one, but he gave it away rather meekly and his reaction said it all as to how disappointed he was in getting out at that point of the game. Yuvraj soon followed, undone by Bret lee's pace and seriously Yuvraj is asking for trouble with such a high bat lift. What followed next was shocking, Dhoni for all his pre-tour talk of the Australian Pitches suiting his style of play et al has now got three failures in three innings, to his defense this is his first time touring Australia but then common sense says that you adapt to the conditions rather than play the same way you do on the Sub-continental pitches. The shot he played of Brett Lee's bowling was going only in one direction, either to the keeper or the slips. Kumble followed next and there was a real danger of a collapse but then Bajji, like hogg on the first day came out with positive intent never backing away from playing his shots, got an entertaining 63 in quick time but more importantly stuck in there with Sachin, who increased the tempo of his game with some breathtaking shots and brilliant running between the wickets.

Indian tail has showed in the recent times that it can wag, they added some important runs in South Africa and then in England helped Dhoni save the first test played in Lord's. But this effort really takes the cake where the Number 9,10,11 along with Sachin added 187 runs with RP, Ishant and Bajji being the dominating partners in each of the partnerships. It might be due to the fact that, when Sachin was playing every fielder was either on the boundary or half way to it except for the gully and it made no sense for Sachin to play aggressively, when his partners were doing a pretty good job of scoring runs at a fair clip. Whatever you make of the Sachin not shielding the tail, the important thing is, at the end of the day he helped India get a lead of 63 so that should really shut anyone who might want to criticize that. Also the fact that Bret Lee acknowledged it to be brilliant move on Sachin's part proves how he outmaneuvered the Aussies.

This has been a superb test match with some excellent performances and at this point the match is evenly poised with India having a slight advantage. All three results are possible and the first session tomorrow might well decide on the way this match might pan out. India needs wickets and cheap ones at that, much depends on how bajji and Kumble bowl tomorrow. Bajji looked really up for it in the one over that he bowled before close of play. He will be quite a handful on this wicket tomorrow and I expect him to do well keeping his past performances against Australia into the perspective.Couple of wickets before lunch will put India in the driving seat.

P.S: I wonder if the Aussie PM Kevin Rudd is so jobless that he could attend the day 2 of the MCG test and then he has been attending this test for the last two days, Jeez doesn't he have a country to run.

Laxman Sizzles at SCG

There is something in SCG which gets the best out of VVS Laxman, who overcame his inner demons and announced himself to the world way back in 1999-2000 with a dazzling knock that left the Australians in awe of him for the first time. Then came the absolute binder of innings in 2003-04 where he even over shadowed Sachin's 241 which almost gate crashed Steven Waugh's farewell. So it was apt that he chose SCG as a canvas to paint another masterpiece and in doing so broke upon the shackles that the Australian bowlers tried to impose upon the Indian batsmen just like they did in the last test at MCG.

It was important for the Indians to restrict the Australians in the morning but they couldn't do it with Bret lee and then Michel Johnson getting some easy runs while Symonds played a curiously subdued knock by his standards so much so that both the fast bowlers out scored him. Stuart Clarke like a true number eleven didn't bother the scorers, all the three wickets to fall picked up by Kumble , who I thought missed a thing or two by not bringing himself into the attack earlier. Australian innings ended on a score of 463 and they would have taken it after they were 135/6 yesterday.

Jaffer was undone by Brett lee's pace and Dravid at the other end was finding non-existent demons in the pitch and was also struggling with his timing, at times making a complete fool of himself, but kudos to him for digging in there and not giving away his wicket. That bloodymindedness coupled with Laxman's sublime stroking took the Indians into ascendancy and just when it looked like Dravid-Laxman partnership was taking away the game from the Aussies, Mitchell johnson struck having dravid caught at second slip and laxman soon followed spooning an easy catch to Hussey of brad hogg's bowling. Dravid did well to score 53, and was helped on the way by some shoddy work behind the stumps by Gilchrist, who was having one of those rare bad days with giving a reprieve each to Laxman and Dravid. Laxman's century had everything you would expect from him, those flicks through mid-wicket, straight drives and those gorgeous cover drives and this was on full display in one Johnson's over when he picked off18 runs in 5 balls. It's really so easy on your eyes and a pleasure to watch batsmen like Laxman play in full flow compared to the power hitting that you so often watch these days. He is right up there with the likes of Zaheer Abbas, David Gower & Mark Wagh.

The match is evenly poised at the end of day 2 with Sachin looking good for a big one in the company of Ganguly. So it's going to be an interesting day of cricket tomorrow and with the kind of cricket that's been on display for the last two days, it would be foolish to write off test cricket yet.

Tale of Two Halves

As is the case with the Indian teams of the past wherein one session they can't do any thing wrong and the very next session give away what ever momentum they gained in the previous session, so they were at it again in the first match being played in 2008 at SCG. It should not even come as surprise to us fans any more, been a regular feature of this team as far as i remember, watching them all the way to Azhar's era'. Till tea Kumble couldn't have asked for more with RP singh and bajji doing all the damage by getting 6 relatively cheap wickets with some high class left arm seam and off spin.

Like MCG Pointing won the toss and wasted no time in electing to bat first hoping that his openers repeat their performance in the first test here too in SCG. Kumble for the second game in running took a punt by drafting in Ishant for the the injured Zaheer instead of giving Irfan a game. Ishant for his part delivered and Kumble should be happy with his performance even though he didn't end up with any wickets, which was more to do with Steve Bucknor's incompetence at umpiring, more on it later.

RP stuck twice before lunch by accounting both the openers with some high class left arm seam bowling and if not for Mark benson's howler, Pointing would have been back in the hutch getting a pretty big edge trying to leg glance a ball from Ganguly but the ump was un-moved and it pretty much started the day when umpiring standards hit rock bottom. There was talk before the match that Ricky is Bajji's pony and Pointing had a point or two to prove facing up against the offie. Bajji taking cue onto the pony part tossed one up on the leg inviting Pointing to drive, and Pointing obliged by stepping out to wack him out of the ground but completely missed the ball, so did Dhoni, puff went the stumping chance, adding insult to the injury Aussies got 2 leg byes. Bajji did eventually get his man leg-before after lunch to another howler from Mark benson, when Ricky clearly got an inside-edge. RP at the other end had Hussey in all sorts of troubles before he got one to straighten a little bit taking the edge to first slip, where Sachin took a sharp catch and this combo was again at it to see the back of another leftie, Gilchrist in the same fashion and full credit to sachin who was at his best while fielding at first slip and the three catches he took stand testimony for that fact. While this was happening at this end, bajji got the wicket of clark, with him not offering a shot which was pretty shocking given that he was facing an off-spinner.

All this was before tea and it was going all the Indian way with 6 wickets down for a score of less that 150. But what followed was counter attacking of the highest order from Hogg and later joined by Symonds. It didn't help either that a couple of decisions didn't go India's way and their fielding let them down at the worst possible time. First it was Ishant who flushed a skier from Hogg of kumble's bowling, to his defense it was a tough chance but you just can't afford to miss those at this level of the game, then dravid missed an easy chance on the boundary line. Now then Steve Bucknor, who for all that i know should have retired from Umpiring at the highest level a good 7-8 years back and he ain't doing any one favors by umpiring at the age of 65 or thereabouts. Ishant sharma gets Symonds to edge one to Dhoni and everyone in the Indian team go up spontaneously, the edge was a pretty thick one and everyone in the ground hears it except for the man that matters, it's really a shame because Ishant bowled really well all day and to deny him this wicket which he so deserved was like taking away Christmas presents from a kid who put on the best of behavior all year long just to get those gifts. Anyway moving on the next howler was from the third umpire, i know how can a third umpire get it wrong when he has all the time in world and some many angles to see the action from but hey as they say you haven't seen everything and there is always the first time, so kumble beats Symonds and dhoni removes the bails in a flash with the decision referred to the third ump, who decides in the favor of the batsmen when clearly Symonds foot was in the air when dhoni removed the bails. Symonds was 30 and 48 when he was reprieved of by the incompetence of the officials and he goes on to make 137*, if i were the captain would throw a major fit at the turn of events. Kumble being such a gentlemen took it all into his stride and got the wicket of hogg. RP wasted the second new ball by bowling all over the place and should put up a better show in the morning tomorrow, if India wants to keep the Aussie total below the 400 mark.

One just gets the feeling that the momentum has slightly swung Aussie way at the end of the day with them scoring almost at the rate of 4+ r.p.o but it's not a lost cause yet for the Indians who just need to look back at the Adelaide test last time around when the Australians scored nearly 400 runs on the first day but still ended up losing. India has to get the remaining 3 wickets cheaply then bat well to get some sort of a hold on this game.

Melbourne is history, three Tests to go

Says Zaheer Khan, easier said than done especially when you take into the account that it was due to the batting failure that India lost the Melbourne test. The way Australian Bowlers relentlessly attacked the Indian batsmen with out really giving away an inch , a part timer like Symonds included and it is hard to fathom what plans the Indian batsmen could have coming into this new years test to score against this bowling attack.

Goods news is that, SCG is the Ground where Sachin has done really well averaging a phenomenal 249 and then there is laxman, who scored two his best knocks in his career on this very ground. Also it helps that though India were not able to register a win on this ground they had the better of Australians, last time they played here. Usually the pitch at SCG aids spinners but this time around there has been talk that the newly laid SCG pitch is more lively but it should not really matter as this Indian team has been there on all three of it's previous away tours, and it helps that they got the better of home team in each of those matches. So SCG provides them the best opportunity to hit back at the Aussies and they do have it in them to do just that.

For starters they need to be more aggressive while batting and they just can't allow the Australians to bowl one maiden over after another because all it takes is just one good ball and away you go to the hutch without making much contribution to the team score, you just can't let that happen when you are up against a team like Australia. You need to keep the score board ticking with singles, while putting away any bad balls that come your way which could be as rare as a day going by without Paris Hilton making the news. There has been a talk of going with Sehwag in this match but that has been laid to rest with him being left out of the 13 and it makes sense not to have him play, when it has been more than a year since he last played and it does not help his cause either that he ain't done anything to warrant his place back in the team in the intervening period. One thing that might be giving kumble some headache is Zaheer khan's fitness, news coming out reckon that he might be a doubtful starter with the recurrence of his landing heel problem which made him miss the last test against Pakistan a fortnight back. While we are at it, this time the team physio hits out at the BCCI regarding the facilities back in India for the injured players and also the scheduling of tours as such. If Zaheer khan is not fit, Irfan comes into the team and also Kumble might have him open the batting too, which won't be that bad given that Dravid is not that keen to open.

All this will mean only that much when play gets underway tomorrow. Indians have to field better and bat better compared to their effort in Melbourne, if they want to make it a contest.