What do you think ?

[Ram]

In 2003-2004, A Chopra Hayden V Sehwag Langer R Dravid Ponting SR Tendulkar Martyn SC Ganguly Steve Waugh VVS Laxman Simon Katich PA Patel Adam Gilchrist AB Agarkar Lee A Kumble Bracken Z Khan Brad Williams A Nehra McGill Result = 1-1 In 2007-2008 Karthik Hayden Jaffer Jaques Dravid Ponting Tendulkar Hussey Ganguly Clarke Laxman Symonds Dhoni Adam Gilchrist Zaheer Lee Kumble Johnson Sreesanth Clark RP Singh McGill Result - ?? Somehow i think we are a better team now,than we were then. Our bowling attack is better, but so is theirs. Dhoni adds more to the side compared to Parthiv and they dont have the experience of Waugh and Martyn in the middle-order but Clarke has been in sublime form off late. If I were the Indian think-tank, I would target the Symonds-Gilchrist duo. Symonds is still not a certainty in the test-line up and Gilchrist has shown signs of being on the wane. Of their bowlers, McGill will have to dealt with aggressively. If we can dent their spinner , the onus on their faster bowlers will increase. They might just not be able to cope up. Two deciding factors for me, 1)Jaffer-Karthik Opening partnership 2) Rahul Dravid

[sm332]

it is touch and go ... their batting lineup seems impregnable ... if anything it is getting better .... bowling is more or less the same given that we had a particularly off color Dizzy giving us runs galore on a platter. I will be very happy if we can once again draw the series

[Ram]

Dravid's form/contribution will decide the series i think. In the last series , he was like this slab of concrete, handling everything that the Aussie bowlers threw at him. Will he be able to do that again ? I doubt it. Sachin will be his usual self in tests , plodding away without certainty.

[Predator_05]

A lot more difficult for India this time around. Australia's batting is just as strong, and their bowling attack is better than it was in '04. Lee is fully fit this time and the likes of Bracken, Bichel and Brad Williams have been replaced by much better bowlers such as Johnson and Clark. India's middle order is the same as it was back then, only 4 years older. Not a good thing, since Dravid was at his peak that year (and he sucks now), Tendulkar was still good (and he sucks now), likewise with Laxman. The only one of those 4 who looks a better player is Gangulaaay; who is free from the pressures of captaincy and is now playing for survival. Conversely, the bowling attack looks much better. I'd take an RPS or a Sreekanth over a Nehra or an Agarkar anyday.

[PaiN_KiLLeR]

Dravid and Laxman were in prolific form in '04. So we would again need atleast 2 of our top order batsmen to be in that kind of form.

[sm332]

and we need an enforcer AKA Sehwag .... we have too many batsman who play in a similar mould (SR of 45-60) .. we need someone to change it up. It should be Viru

[theguyinallblue]

in australia..slow SR will not matter...as Aussies will score at brisk pace.. we must not lose the first test match... if possible..Sehwag can be accommodated in middle order.. its pity that yusless is ahead of him in packing order.. we will need sehwag in the playing XI some how.. i hope Kumble will have his ways in selecting his playing XI..

[King]

Aussie batting is miles ahead of India. India has improved on the bowling front in particular the fast bowling department tremendously. It's impossible to replace McGrath and Warne but Australia still has bowlers that comparable to Indian bowling strength. Indian batting although looks good on paper is no match for Australia's at this point in time. There still is a question mark around the batting form of Rahul and Ganguly. Tendulkar is in great touch but he can be subdued (I hope he won't though). Karthik, Jaffer and Dhoni are visiting Australia the first time. They have no idea how to bat on these pitches yet. Laxman can be great but I can't recall when he last played a game. Just as ever Indian batting looks good on paper but we all know they don't quite perform to their potential.

[dial_100]

But Ravi, aren't we the ONLY team doing reasonably welll against them consistently. I mean 4-2 ODI wasn't bad either. T20 was a stunner as well. We do remember our last tour. So point here is we are getting mentally tuff against Aussies. So despite not so strong bowling line up last time around, we did reasonably okay. In fact, I feel lot better for this tour down under. Especially we sat Dravid in ODI means he will be very hungry. He did very good in couple of games he played at home. Plus Dhoni, KKD both have something to prove. So they will try hard to come good against them. SRT, SG going through some tuff competition so they cannot afford to fail either. So all in all we have some very good games to look forward to.

[Cricketics]

mm u r comparing it too early.. first atleast let the squad be selected then u can compare players.. rite now we don't know who are the final 15.... until the pak test series is over..

[fineleg]

it is touch and go ... their batting lineup seems impregnable ... if anything it is getting better .... bowling is more or less the same given that we had a particularly off color Dizzy giving us runs galore on a platter. I will be very happy if we can once again draw the series

Happy? That is an understatement. We should feel ecstatic and really proud if we can DRAW the TEST series. Thats a super achievement if we can do that. IMO, we are far away from being able to compete and pull off a drawn test series.

[Ram]

mm u r comparing it too early.. first atleast let the squad be selected then u can compare players.. rite now we don't know who are the final 15.... until the pak test series is over..

Fair enough , you have a good point there. Though the only replacements i foresee are Sehwag for one of the opners , Yuvraj for Laxman and Irfan for one of the faster bowlers.

[Bumper]

Aussie batting lineup is stronger than they were back then. How do you get this dude Hussey out ? The guy averages 83 with the bat. He is a MONSTER. Their bowling lineup too is stronger. Last time around either Lee or Gillespie was injured & there was no McWarne. This time they have all these voids filled. Our bowling lineup is a tad stronger, but our batting is nowhere close to its best (which peaked in the last tour). Methinks it will be impossible to dismiss the Aussies even once & very difficult to get past 350 when we bat. I'd love to come out of the test series unscathed (0-0), but would be content if we manage to lose by a close margin. However in ODIs, i expect India to compete better.

[fineleg]

Our batting in Tests in 2003-2004 was simply great. Sehwag was clicking well, and Tendulkar-Laxman-Dravid-Ganguly - the 4 were on song most of the time. This time, T-L-D-G the 4 are very much on the decline and are tentative in Tests. Sehwag is neither here nor there. Our batting is very vulnerable against Aus attack.

[Tugga]

Plz, no Ganguly for Australia...Aussies will toy with him, get inside his head and make him give catching practise 2 their slips..!!! also he is not Captain anymore 2 inspire confidence in himself when he fails with the bat..!!!... i have a feeling that Yuvraj might just b 'ready' 2 b in the test side...i believe he is really fired-up 2 prove himself..!!!

[King]

Plz, no Ganguly for Australia...Aussies will toy with him, get inside his head and make him give catching practise 2 their slips..!!! also he is not Captain anymore 2 inspire confidence in himself when he fails with the bat..!!!... i have a feeling that Yuvraj might just b 'ready' 2 b in the test side...i believe he is really fired-up 2 prove himself..!!!

England tried that, South Africa tried that but Ganguly came up trumps both the times. Ganguly although looks a lesser player he has plenty of experience and grit to back on. In fact against England in the last test in England when the likes of Rahul and Tendulkar were all over the shop Ganguly showed what playing positive cricket can do. It'll be a crime to drop him from the test team after his showing in England. You don't drop someone just for the heck of dropping. I believe he can be dropped from the ODIs though, given his running between wickets and lack of agility.BTW Ganguly is quite a good catcher in the slip cordon too. That'll come in handy in test cricket.

[Online]

what a thread title :D thoda to hint de do MM ji

[Online]

....In the last series ' date=' he was like this slab of concrete, handling everything ....[/quote'] U mean like a wall? :tounge_smile::hatsoff:

[bharat297]

I reckon Sachin will turn around his Test form ... I reckon he will have a good summer . His confidence is high and his timing, placement, footwork, shot selection is exceptional at the moment. I reckon he will have a strong series. Also, I agree with Ravi about not dropping Ganguly from Tests. Despite his weaknesses he is mentally very tough and wont take any BS from the aussies. He is a true fighter, and when they guy plays well, they are generally match-winning innings. We would be foolish not to take Ganguly to the Test series down under. The people that want to chop and change our batting and kick out all these seniors seriously dont have a clue because I can tell you right now that our bowling will be a much bigger problem than our batting. I am more concerned with how we will bowl the aussies out twice each test match. There is not much swing in Australia, and bowlers like RP singh and sreesanth may get carried away with the bounce and start bowling short, where the aussies are comfortable. This is where Zaheer and Kumble (who have both had success in Aus before) need to step in and lead by example ... I hope they can do it.