End of Aussie Era

[Gambit]

I know the focus on this thread is about Australia, but overall India need at look themseves as well, where will they be without Tendulkar, Dravid, Sehwag, Laxman, Ganguly. These are some of the most experienced and dominant Test batters of the modern era. And Tendulkar, well he's a once in a generation, maybe once in several generations batsmen, a player like him only comes along once in a while. India's bowling seems well served and represented nowadays in both pace(RP Singh, P.Kumar, I.Sharma, S.Sreesanth) and spin(Bhaji, A.Kumble, P.Chawla), can India's bench strength of R.Sharma, G.Gambir, S.Raina and co. fill the vacancy left by these greats in the Test batting arena? I guess time will tell.

That's something we have debated in the past. Personally, I think India are moving from a bat big, make 500+ and then win the match type of lineup to a ~300 runs in either innings and then winning by close margins type of team. This will be evident when we lose our big bats but our new found strength in fast bowling will offset that loss to a degree. Previous Indian teams outside India relied on big totals to force results but with our bowling now, we won't necessarily need big totals everytime to win games. Somewhat like a Pak of the 90s.

As for Aust, we have some up and coming batsmen some known overseas some not, Pommersbach, Ronchi, Marsh, Watson as an all rounder, and some of the older guard in good form like Hodge and D.Hussey, looking to those just coming out of the under 19's you have Usman Khawaja, Michael Hill, Kumar Sarna, Phillip Hughes, (Moises Henriques and Theo Doropoulos ~ all rounders). Some of these players are already playing at State level in our domestic competition. What Australia lacks at the moment is a top level spinner, they are giving Casson a trudle to see how he goes, good luck to him.

Indian fans can also give a dozen names from the fringe sides but honestly, how many of these guys can achieve a tenth of what the big guns did? Australia will be very lucky to find replacements a third as good as Warne/McGrath/Hayden/Gilchrist. Of course, same goes for Indian batting.

[mayur]

as being an indian fan i will support india 4EVA but yeh sure the FAB4 will affect the test arena but yuvraj will replace sum1 and sachin still has no plans 3retire and also others will still play 4 sum tym so no worries now but in the future and by then the younger players will som how get test debuts and they will develop by then so i dont think much damage will occur with dhoni's captaincy in test matches in the future.

[Holysmoke]

as being an indian fan i will support india 4EVA but yeh sure the FAB4 will affect the test arena but yuvraj will replace sum1 and sachin still has no plans 3retire and also others will still play 4 sum tym so no worries now but in the future and by then the younger players will som how get test debuts and they will develop by then so i dont think much damage will occur with dhoni's captaincy in test matches in the future.

what?

[mayur]

what?

i mean the retirement of the fab 4 will not affect criket much since the younger criketers will develop by then to be able 2get the test debut when the fab4 will retire. thanks mayur

[theguyinallblue]

Mayur..Brother...Use of Text Language is not encouraged here at this forum... its not easy to read and comprehend at first reading..please use proper sentences and words... Thanks

[astromatic]

i mean the retirement of the fab 4 will not affect criket much since the younger criketers will develop by then to be able 2get the test debut when the fab4 will retire. thanks mayur

Affect it will for sure, especially dravid and tendulkar with their high 50 averages, but i guess we have a fine crop of batsmen coming up from the domestic level. It is time Gautam Gambhir starts opening the batting with Sehwag in Test Matches too ,given his recent form and Yuvraj will be a natural choice to replace ganguly or laxman any day. The young guns I seek solace in, are Badrinath ,Manoj Tiwary ,Cheteswar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. These guys will give tough competition to raina and rohit sharma for a place in the test XI. All of them average in the higher 50s in the domestics, and though internationals are a class apart from the standard of indian domestic cricket, still they should be able to carry on some of the good work. I feel they will make the cut, given all of them except badrinath are so young.

[astromatic]

Though I am not sure how good Rohit Sharma will come in 5 day cricket. He does show signs of a great cricketer but most of the times they appear to be a flash in the pan. Either he fails to get a start or loses his compass somewhere midway !

[SachDan]

As this thread developed, it has changed from End of Australia's dominance to India's fight for survival!!!!!!!

[King Tendulkar]

This thread is about aussies end of era. Not sure how this has benn turned by some miserable gits to the end of the indian era!:((

[printex]

Usman Khawaja opening tests for Aussies:two_thumbs_up:

[King Tendulkar]

It really is the end of an era. They are goping to be good but not the dominant force they were. Look at some of the players gone-Warne,Mcgrath, Martyn, Langer, Gilchrist, Martyn-Some of them legends if not legends then greats. Look at the replacements-Katich, Haddin, Siddle, Johnson, White-some of the decent but no more, some of them pants. This is the end. Forget their mytholigical status. Their players are not the same anymore, they don't have the same skill levels.

[Kriterion]

End of the Aussie Empire a couple of years ago, when the aussies lost, people were clamoring about the end of their dominance. yet most people ruled that silly and said one or two bad series doesn't mean the end of an era. the 2007 world cup seemed to prove their point. however, mcgrath is gone. warne is gone. gilly is gone. gillespie who was a fine 3rd seamer (could walk into pretty much any team as the primary strike bowler) is also gone. 3 departures in the space of a couple of years has now finally nailed the coffin shut. johnson might become great. lee might regain his form. ponting will probably break sachin's eventual test records. but these guys can not single-handedly compose a team as dominating as the one with mgrath, warne, and gilly. each of those 3 can stake a legit claim to be best player of their role in the history of cricket. the same cannot be said of ponting, johnson, or lee. they are simply great players. the former were legends. failing to defend 414 on a 5th day pitch, no matter how flat isn't choking. it simply means you don't have the mental strength to compete. and mental strenght comes with real physical ability. they could have at least taken 17 or 18 wickets and pushed it close. instead they took just 14, and with de villiern and duminy at the crease still...and 4th innings target of 500 would have been risky. yes, the aussies are not the same team they were before. how else can you explain 2 losses at perth in less than a year?

[fineleg]

maybe - i hope aus lose more in 2009, but wait till 2009 dec and we'll know

[Holysmoke]

They have been mentally and physically disintegrated by India. Give them some time to recover.. :--D

[DomainK]

And Hayden is coming to the end of his career as well. Punter is proving to be a bad captain in tough times. India and SA are racing for that top spot, which still belongs to Australia.

[Dhondy]

Cliche. There are five head to heads to go this Southern summer as yet between this two sides. Don't jump the gun.

[cochise]

Yes...long way to go...but first blood to SA and a huge psychological hangover has been removed from their minds...I think you will not see the same timidity from them that we saw when they were fielding in this first test. And the Aussies will be raring to hit back as well. It's going to be a very hard fought and interesting series...

[Dhondy]

No end. Just pi ss poor team selection. With bowlers like Bollinger and Noffke around, why would you pick a passenger like Krecza at Perth? Match figures: 49-4-204-1. The single biggest reason for Australia's loss. How long will spinners continue to dupe selectors the world over into thinking that they are match winners?

[Brainfade]

No end. Just pi ss poor team selection. With bowlers like Bollinger and Noffke around, why would you pick a passenger like Krecza at Perth?

Maybe they fell for the "SA is weak against spinners" refrain. Unfortunately, they forgot that Krejza may really not be a spinner, notwithstanding the 8-fer a few months ago. Having said that, Doc, wouldn't you agree that the Indian team has softened them up, and injected a smidgen of self-doubt? And with their "leader" on shaky ground with his own form (thank you, Ishant Sharma), the Aussies are more vulnerable now than they have been in, say ... 15 years? And much as I don't care for SA, I am loving it.

[Dhondy]

Maybe they fell for the "SA is weak against spinners" refrain. Unfortunately, they forgot that Krejza may really not be a spinner, notwithstanding the 8-fer a few months ago. Having said that, Doc, wouldn't you agree that the Indian team has softened them up, and injected a smidgen of self-doubt? And with their "leader" on shaky ground with his own form (thank you, Ishant Sharma), the Aussies are more vulnerable now than they have been in, say ... 15 years? And much as I don't care for SA, I am loving it.

I'd like to make such tall claims, but that kind of talk is best left to our daydreaming padosis, who live in la-la land. No side in the world can make a seamless transition after losing Warne, McGrath, Gilchrist and Langer and afford to have Ponting and Hayden out of form or in decline. The death blow came when they lost Stuart Clark before Perth. The guy is a Saffie killer- their bats simply can't live with his accuracy. Coming back to the just retired batch, what people fail to realise is that apart from being the best spinner of all time, Warne was also the greatest captain Australia never had. It's not as if Ponting and Australia haven't been through sticky patches in the past. However, on those occasions, Warne was always at hand with a word of advice for his captain, invariably bailing him out. His reading of the game and its personalities was second to none......probably the closest thing to a cricketing genius that the world has seen. Irreplaceable.