Australia is depleted ahead of the 1st test,great chance for a winning start for us

[ShebbySB]

Watson & Harris are not fit yet,Shaun Marsh is also unavailable for the 1st test, Aussie media & ex-cricketers are saying maybe Ponting has already played his last test,Cummins & Johnson are out of the series with injuries.So this is their probable XI for the 1st test in Melbourne:-Warner,Hughes,Khawaja,Clarke,Hussey,Cowan/Ferguson,Haddin,Siddle, Pattinson,Starc,Lyon.Paine is also out with a finger injury so Haddin is likely to retain his place though Mattew Wade may replace him.

[saneindian]

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Given how we played in England, and the injury concerns of Zaheer, lack of runs from Gauti, Sachin, MSD, lack of wickets for Ishant and two young bowlers in Umesh and Ashwin, we are not the favorites. We will have to play out of our skins to beat even a weakened Aussie side. I would be more than happy if we can come out of the first test without a loss.

[rkt.india]

Aussies are still favorites for me.

[Old guy]

australia and india are similarly placed on bowling front both inexperienced but talented attacks best bowlers of both team can get injured any time lol batting im not worried gauti will get int form i jsut know it imp warm up tomorrow im excited.. want india to bat first so that we can get 1 day of batting practice then one day of bowling practice

[deathmonger]

australia and india are similarly placed on bowling front both inexperienced but talented attacks best bowlers of both team can get injured any time lol batting im not worried gauti will get int form i jsut know it imp warm up tomorrow im excited.. want india to bat first so that we can get 1 day of batting practice then one day of bowling practice

will it be aired on indian tv?

[Needforspeed]

Check out this article Australia to work on swing weakness at batting camp http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia-v-india-2011/content/story/545340.html

[ShebbySB]

England tour was just a series where everything went against us.........poms lifed thier game by a level or two.But this Aussie side is as weak as ever so I think we'll win this series if we play 80% of our potential & if the bowling lineup remains fit....I mean Zak,Ishu,UY & Ash.Back up bowlers except Ojha are crap.

[Old guy]

will it be aired on indian tv?

no.. scores will tell some things like how zaheer bowled ,how many overs he bowled and how ishant performs its very imp for him to pick wickets even against weak team

[Stuge]

We are pathetic starters .I hope they don't continue this trend

[Old guy]

We are pathetic starters .I hope they don't continue this trend

i hope we do bad in warm ups and bounce back in first test :P

[chainsmoker]

How important it is for India to start Aus tour with a win and other crucial factors IMO, it is very important that India just does not lose in the first against Australia starting on Boxing day, if not win. A good start can give a real momentum for the rest of the tour. Fitness f our bowling attack is very very important, especially for 3 front line bowlers Zaheer, Ishant and Umesh. Bcoz our back bowlers will create more havoc in the Indian camp than the Aussie camp. Even our spinners will have to remain fit for the whole tour. Actually we don't have any experienced back up spinner to replace either Ashwin or Ojha. *Bhajji is unfit. How much we are relying on Ashwin? Our top order form: Despite Sehwag making those historical 219, I am not sure about our top order form and Sachin's form as well. Indian team has always relied on good opening starts. 9 out of 10 times that counts in an Indian win. So, form of Sehwag, Gambhi and Sachin will be crucial.

[deathmonger]

IMO, it is very important that India just does not lose in the first against Australia starting on Boxing day, if not win. A good start can give a real momentum for the rest of the tour. Fitness f our bowling attack is very very important, especially for 3 front line bowlers Zaheer, Ishant and Umesh. Bcoz our back bowlers will create more havoc in the Indian camp than the Aussie camp. Even our spinners will have to remain fit for the whole tour. Actually we don't have any experienced back up spinner to replace either Ashwin or Ojha. *Bhajji is unfit. Our top order form: Despite Sehwag making those historical 219, I am not sure about our top order form and Sachin's form as well. Indian team has always relied on good opening starts. 9 out of 10 times that counts in an Indian win. So, form of Sehwag, Gambhi and Sachin will be crucial.

Spinners don't break down.

[chainsmoker]

Spinners don't break down.

Hope not. We don't have any back-up and Ashwin really will play a crucial role

[Old guy]

yadav should stay fit.. ishant's ankle is a worry but he looked fit to me and zack..no comments -_-

[deathmonger]

Hope not. We don't have any back-up and Ashwin really will play a crucial role

handy batsman also plus he'll love bounce in aus. this is our best team since 2008. no passengers in no 6 spot. no darting spinner. decent pace attack.

[deathmonger]

ishu was bowling 140+ with ease for a long time so no worries there i guess. zak there's a concern but ppl worrying about zak should remember ryan harris is even more injury prone. at least zak has completed tours. ryan harris has never completed a single series.

[vamos_rafa]

Spinners don't break down.

Bhajji broke down during the England tour.

[chainsmoker]

The biggest loss was Varun Aaron. He is a really good back-up pacer. What are the options if any more of the pacers gets injured by 1st or 2nd test? Then we will have only RP singh or Irfan or Manpreet Gony as well

[Old guy]

Bhajji broke down during the England tour.

he is darter more stress..

[deathmonger]

Bhajji broke down during the England tour.

faked it.