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.