First test in Melbourne ... team, plan, tactics?

[bharat297]

In my opinion, we have to target Ponting. Target the opposition captain, and really demoralise him. If his confidence is low, then the teams will be low. Look at what happened with Flintoff in 2006. I feel if we can get Ponting a few times and really start to eat away at his confidence, he will start second guessing himself and go on the defensive. It happened in Ashes 2005.

[Chandan]

One good thing about the Indian batting in recent years has been their ability to play express pace(at least in test cricket). Shoaib has not done much in the last 3 series while Lee had two terrible games in 03. It has been the seam bowlers like Gul and Asif who have done most of the damage so keeping that in mind i expect S Clark to be the best bowler of the series.

I still can't forget the way south africans attacked us on a bouncy Durban track. For once they bowled consistently well, targetting our batters for a complete day, and apparantly India had no answer except to show doggedness. I suppose being mere dogged is not going to work against Australia. We'll have to counterattack and for that we'd need both Sehwag and Yuvi in the team. But none are reliable. Hence we can't chuck any of our reliable middle order batsman out. It is a headache really: this selection. Wonder what answer do we have to this puzzle.

[MundaPakistani]

I still can't forget the way south africans attacked us on a bouncy Durban track. For once they bowled consistently well, targetting our batters for a complete day, and apparantly India had no answer except to show doggedness. I suppose being mere dogged is not going to work against Australia. We'll have to counterattack and for that we'd need both Sehwag and Yuvi in the team. But none are reliable. Hence we can't chuck any of our reliable middle order batsman out. It is a headache really: this selection. Wonder what answer do we have to this puzzle.

'Doggedness' could work here too because the AUS attack is very inexperienced.

And once we have overcome all of those dangermen .... there will still be two folks out there that you need to be worried about (Just like last time) .... no prizes for guessing who they are.

Assume you are talking about the captain and the keeper. Well they have a better keeper now so hopefully Dhoni won't be as poor as Parthiv. Negative captaincy is still an issue with Kumble(just like it was with Ganguly) but hopefully it wont be that big of a factor this time.

[fineleg]

Plan is take it session by session. Dont get overawed. Dont get frustrated if runs/wickets dont come. Stay there. AND FIGHT :isalute:

like azza said: u gotta bat well, bowl well and field well. simple.

[Rajan]

To start with, I am more defensive than our captain! I would prefer to go in with 8 test quality batsmen including Pathan. Even if that would mean we would have Zak, RPS,Pathan as seamers. Pathan can manage to hold his own with his experience in Ausie pitches. Sure Ishant is right arm and can get some bounce, but MCG is not the ideal place and Aussie batsmen are known for exploiting the inexperience of the bowlers to bully them and scare them into submission. We need to bat deep down, as deep as possible. 1.Jaffer is doing a good job and i expect him to score at least a few fifties and one big hundred in the series. 2.Dravid has been coming in more or less with in 5 overs most of the times when we tour abroad( ok, excepting the recent england tour), so he can as well open. 3.Laxman did well when the chips were down and when he as coming in at #3. he has the experience and confidence to handle the aussie pace attack. we must play him at #3. 4.Ganguly has expressed his wish to play at #4 and i think it is a good idea to have a leftie in that position just to separate him and Yuvi and make the bowlers change their line every now and then.he is a fighter and can manage to hang on as he is in the form of his second life as a cricketer! 5.SRT at #5 is not a bad idea at all, imagine the Aussie bowlers, after picking up 3 wickets, if this guy walks in and plays out any number of effort balls/bouncers with his newly acquired Zen like composure, treats each ball on its merit,cuts down the risky shots, sticks to % strokes,guides the batsman at the other end,,builds partnership, .... he can adapt according to the situation and take care of the innings. 6.YuvRaj has to be played. even i was among those doubting thomases as recently as last test.not sure whether he has the temperament and ability to handle pressure,play the spinners on a turning wicket ... But he proved that he can be trusted.I recall him playing very well and his comfort against Lee & Co during the one day hundred in aussie's last trip here. Granted it was a one day game, but he was not hurried at all. more over if this is not the time to test him, when we have many dependable batsmen, when can we ? 7.Dhoni must be fit by the time the MCG test starts.very little to discuss his position and importance. I hold Parthiv 50% responsible for india missing out on a series win last time. 8.Irfan: again, a left hander. he played well in his come back series against Aussies. he has this unruffled quality about him that gives us confidence. he gets out by his mistakes generally and not due to the bowler troubling him.so, he can be expected to boost the batting.His bowling is not yet back to where it was, but give him some time.he will get it back.he is bowling at 135+k. 9.Kumble . dont think any justification required. but he needs to be in command, one thing i observed in kolkotta and bangalore tests: there was total lack of urgency when we were about to declare! it was very surprising. in old days, when the team was about to declare, the batsmen would throw their bats around, give everything they have including the kitchen sink and all with the shot, gather 40 runs in 4 overs for the loss 3-4 wickets in just 3 overs. but there was absolutely no urgency shown by our batsmen at all.is every one looking at their averages as once kapil famously said when india lost an one day match against australia in 1986, " they are playing for their not outs"( Gavaskar ended up on 92 not out, india fell short of the target by 60 odd runs). Surely Aussies wont do that. thats why they are #1. it is time for us to forget the individual glory and play as a team.plz. 10.Zak has to be the mentor for RPS and Irfan and guide them. I expect a lot from him with both ball and bat when the chips are down.He can bat decently but these days only when some one gets under his skin.hope the aussies do something nasty like the "jelly bean" by england team. 11. RPS if fit , can get the ball bounce disconcertingly and some how has the uncanny knack for getting in to wickets very regularly in One dayers. hope he can do better than his performances in england. He can even be used as a strike bowler, giving his best and fastest at 145+k in short bursts of 4 overs each. Like some one has said above, the injury problems may necessiate india going in with both Yuvraj and Sehwag too. But if every one was fit, i would go in with the above team only.Ishant and pankaj can wait for the second test as back to back tests would be very tough on the bowlers, especially if they have to bowl in two innings to aussie batsmen.

[bharat297]

The more I think about it the more I want to play Sehwag for the first Test, however, I dont want to leave out Yuvraj (in the form that he is in) at the moment either. However, I am starting to think that for the first test, we should probably play Sehwag given that it is the first test of the series and a dominant start from Sehwag could push the opening bowlers back a peg. It is also a good position to be in to have an in-form middle order batsman to spare. However, I am really undecided on this matter and will probably change my mind on this matter several times over the next 10 days.

[The Outsider]

We might discuss it ad nauseam regarding which team should play and who should be left out, but as I see it the only slightly unsure selection as of today is between Pathan and Ishant, and even that one is heavily tilted in Ishant's favor on the virtue of being a right handed option and having picked up wickets at Bangalore.

[bharat297]

Yea I suspect Ishant will get the nod over Pathan because he is a right armer, and is tall and may like the Australian pitches a bit.

[Chandan]

We might discuss it ad nauseam regarding which team should play and who should be left out' date=' but as I see it the only slightly unsure selection as of today is between Pathan and Ishant, and even that one is heavily tilted in Ishant's favor on the virtue of being a right handed option and having picked up wickets at Bangalore.[/quote'] But what about the openers? And what about Yuvi once Sachin returns?But this is team. How about plans and tactics? Bharat, is it true that MCG pitch has been slower this year and has aided turns? In that case what should our strategy be? And if that news is totally false then how should we approach this match? Remember that it'll be our first test after spending just 6 days in Australia. Acclimatisation would be a big issue and we'll be most vulnerable to a loss here. In those situations, what should we do??

[The Outsider]

But what about the openers? And what about Yuvi once Sachin returns?

Yuvraj will be dropped and Sehwag will open with Jaffer. If the team management has shown so much faith in Sehwag to have him selected when he has been in such terrible form in Ranji, I don't see them making him sit on the bench at least at the start of the series.

[living]

I have a gut feeling that RPS will sit out the first game ...

[The Outsider]

How about plans and tactics? Bharat, is it true that MCG pitch has been slower this year and has aided turns? In that case what should our strategy be? And if that news is totally false then how should we approach this match?

There have been 3 FC matches at the MCG this year and all of them have been relatively low scoring encounters with the seamers picking up a lot of wickets in the first half and spinners in the second. But it's difficult to say whether the pitch will be similar for the test, where it has generally been batsman friendly over the past few years. It will surely be up and down on the 4th and 5th day like all MCG wickets, but to what extent remains to be seen. Ishant Sharma can be a good wild card choice on such a wicket.

[siddhu]

Whatever strategies or tactics we want to discuss the bottom line is... We will need all 11 players firing all cylinders (no half measures like against Pak Series) and more importantly be on attack all the time.. if we want to have any chance of winning this series. If we find ourselves on the backfoot (most likely scenario) try to take the game into the 5th day. Something that Australia is not used to. just like in boxing, take the stronger opponent till the last round (ofcourse we will need a lot of fire to survive till the 5th day).That would be our best chance of pulling a win. And yes, I agree with one who commented on targeting Ponting and not just on the field even mentally... get under his skin and try to irritate him as much as possible (ala Waugh).

[bharat297]

There have been 3 FC matches at the MCG this year and all of them have been relatively low scoring encounters with the seamers picking up a lot of wickets in the first half and spinners in the second. But it's difficult to say whether the pitch will be similar for the test, where it has generally been batsman friendly over the past few years. It will surely be up and down on the 4th and 5th day like all MCG wickets, but to what extent remains to be seen. Ishant Sharma can be a good wild card choice on such a wicket.

I suspect there will be a bit of grass on the MCG wicket. The MCG is one of those places where the first session is exceptionally difficult but after that it gets very easy for the batsman. The new ball at the MCG will always do something. The wicket does tend to slow down after a while and then like shwetabh said ... days 4 and 5 are generally up and down. Its a pitch where both opening bowlers and opening batsman need to have very good games.

[The Outsider]

The new ball at the MCG will always do something.

That is the key at MCG - the new ball. A perfect example would be the last test India played there. After Sehwag and Chopra negotiated a tough first session, the runs just kept piling on till we faltered against the second new ball. Our bowling just didn't have enough firepower in it to utilize the new ball with Agarkar, a half fit Zaheer and Nehra bowling. In India's second innings at around 250/4, Dravid and Ganguly batting really well there was a chance of setting Australia a challenging 200-250 run chase but the new ball completely mopped up our batting.

[Chandan]

There have been 3 FC matches at the MCG this year and all of them have been relatively low scoring encounters with the seamers picking up a lot of wickets in the first half and spinners in the second. But it's difficult to say whether the pitch will be similar for the test, where it has generally been batsman friendly over the past few years. It will surely be up and down on the 4th and 5th day like all MCG wickets, but to what extent remains to be seen. Ishant Sharma can be a good wild card choice on such a wicket.

Shwetabh, MCG is a multi-purpose ground and in the cricket season, there is a drop-in pitch every year. Can't think that this pitch will be much different from what it has been in the FC matches. And if the pitch is not a flat one, then a result is imminent. And most probably it'll be against India since they'd be extremely shaky then, not having getting used to the weather and playing conditions. I'm afraid that if we lose this test, we might be playing the catching up in the rest of the series and might not catch up at all. In this scenario, 0-2 result seems the best for India.

[Bumper]

Sehwag's the opener, Yuvi sits out, unfortunately for the MCG test. Thereafter its entirely upto Sehwag to justify his spot. I am expecting Sehwag to average atleast 35 at MCG, in the two innings he will get to bat (Knowing Sehwag's propensity to get himself out in single digits, such an average is possible only if he gets a 50 in one of the innings). Theres no question of playing Pathan. Already with just 4 specialist bowlers, we are gonna struggle against the Aussie batting lineup. A friendly bowler like Pathan, will leave Zak, RPS & Kumble with too much to handle. I'll take Ishant over Pathan in all tests, except at Sydney.

[The Outsider]

And if the pitch is not a flat one, then a result is imminent. And most probably it'll be against India since they'd be extremely shaky then, not having getting used to the weather and playing conditions.

Ironically, I back the Indian team to pull off a win on pitches which do a bit as opposed to dead pitches. It narrows the gap between our pace attack and the oppositions while our batsmen are still capable of putting up a decent 300 runs for the bowlers to bowl at. Look at Nottingham, Johannesburg, and Sabina Park for examples over the past year.

[Ram]

Theres no question of playing Pathan. Already with just 4 specialist bowlers, we are gonna struggle against the Aussie batting lineup. A friendly bowler like Pathan, will leave Zak, RPS & Kumble with too much to handle. I'll take Ishant over Pathan in all tests, except at Sydney.

A rookie in the first test of a big series ? No way ! IF the Aus go after him, Sharma may just break down completely, coz he is not used to handling pressure. I will play Pathan for the first test, see how he goes and maybe replace him with Ishant for the 2nd if required. However, the team take a chance with Sharma since there are already 2 lefties.

[The Outsider]

I'll take Ishant over Pathan in all tests, except at Sydney.

We have reached a new low in our spin bowling department and we might be reduced to playing the loser, Harbhajan, as our second spinner at Sydney in the hope of a miracle from him. Kumble is the man who has been keeping us afloat and I shudder to think of the day when he retires and Harbhajan will be given a free pass as our first choice spinner. I would even play Pankaj Singh if it means Harbhajan does not play.