MCG Pitch

[arkay]

The pitch looks a very flat batting pitch with very little assistance to seamers. Early in the morning for the first hour, there was some movement of the seam. Besides that there has been nothing in the wicket. Against the run of things, Indian performance is commendable. But if you analyze these wickets, most of the wickets that ozzies lost were poor strokes. Jacques -> Combination of good bowling and over-confidence to go out of the crease to play strokes Ponting -> Brilliant piece of bowling by Zaheer. Ponting had no clue Hussey -> Tentative. Nothing in the ball / pitch. But Hussey unable to read the length well Hayden -> After a great innings, misread the change of pace Clarke -> Wild heave Symond-> Poor shot Gilli -> Poor shot Lee -> straight ball Hogg -> sucked into booming drive As we can see both Mitchel Johnson and S.Clarke negated the new ball and scored runs freely. There is not much in the wicket. So Indians should focus on getting the wicket and bat confidently. If we get a good start, our middle order would always build more on top of that. Looking forward Indian batting tomorrow.

[Ram]

I will wait for the Aussie bowlers to have a decent spell before pronouncing judgments on the pitch. Remember, we must see two sides bowl before we fully come to know what the pitch has to offer. Undoubtedly, there is some early seam movement in the day with the new ball. That is our first biggest threat to get past. The Aus will come hard at us, knowing that they need to attack us, so there will be lots of close-in fielders and gaps in the out-field. If we can weather the early storm, we may be in for a buffet day. Our ONLY chance in this test match is to dismiss Aus for under 350 and get atleast a 150 lead in the first innings.

[Cricketics]

its a good batting pitch.. 337 on day 1 is a good score.. 9 wickets did go, and for that i would just give credit to our bowlers rather then giving credit to the pitch.. 337 aussies scored on day 1..

[fineleg]

I agree with MM. When Aus bowlers bowl, and our batsmen bat, who knows - maybe we will "invent" demons in the pitch! Such things have happened before (different pitch when we bat :P) Lets hope we get Aus below 350 and India go on to bat well. Thats what we can hope!

[Ram]

I agree with MM. When Aus bowlers bowl, and our batsmen bat, who knows - maybe we will "invent" demons in the pitch! Such things have happened before (different pitch when we bat :P) Lets hope we get Aus below 350 and India go on to bat well. Thats what we can hope!

The day and age for "hoping for the best" or "that is what we can hope" is well and truly gone. Wake up and smell the coffee. We have done what very few teams have been been able to do in the last decade, restrict Aus for a low first innings score. The message is clear - " We can compete" Its the Aus who will be nervous now, with the Indian camp experiencing a quiet sense of confidence. Also its good that we go into day 2 with the batsman having one full night to prepare themselves mentally fro the challenge, that may make a huge difference.

[HouMac]

Jacques -> Combination of good bowling and over-confidence to go out of the crease to play strokes Ponting -> Brilliant piece of bowling by Zaheer. Ponting had no clue Hussey -> Tentative. Nothing in the ball / pitch. But Hussey unable to read the length well Hayden -> After a great innings, misread the change of pace Clarke -> Wild heave Symond-> Poor shot Gilli -> Poor shot Lee -> straight ball Hogg -> sucked into booming drive

I don't think you're giving the Indians enough credit here. Jacques' dismissal was a beautifully flighted googly by Kumble that invited the batsman to play such a stroke. Hussey's ball was a googly that completely suckered him. Nothing in the ball/pitch?? Hayden was done in by the extra swing Zaheer got. It wasn't a slower ball or change of pace. It was a reguarly paced delivery that came inside...A LOT. Hayden didn't expect the ball to come in as much as it did. Credit Zaheer for getting that sort of swing. Agree on Clarke/Symond/Gilchrist. Pretty ordinary shots from all 3 of 'em. Lee was done in by Kumble's flipper. Kumble gets the best of 'em with that delivery and most tailenders struggle against it. All credit goes to the bowler here. Hogg's a tailender. Doesn't matter how you get him. He looked clueless during his stay anyway. With the exception of Harbhajan India bowled very well today and did something no Australian opponent has done in a while. Give 'em props instead of putting the cause on poor batting.

[fineleg]

The day and age for "hoping for the best" or "that is what we can hope" is well and truly gone. Wake up and smell the coffee. We have done what very few teams have been been able to do in the last decade' date=' restrict Aus for a low first innings score. The message is clear - "[b'] We can compete" Its the Aus who will be nervous now, with the Indian camp experiencing a quiet sense of confidence. Also its good that we go into day 2 with the batsman having one full night to prepare themselves mentally fro the challenge, that may make a huge difference.

MM, Thanks to Kumble and ZK we bowled well today. (Bhajji ofcourse showed what a useless bowler he has become) However we'll do well to remember this is Aus we are playing, and we competed today, but we need to compete on each and every day. Aus can turn things around, and we cannot get complacent or overconfident one bit. 1. First order, get them below 350, else psychologically it becomes a bigger total 2. We need to bat well (saying the obvious, but obvious can become not so when playing Aus)

[arkay]

HouseMac, I agree with your reasoning that "Indians should be given credit for commendable performance". I was already thinking about tomorrow batting when I typed the message. * Kumble was awesome yesterday. In the lifeless pitch, he bowled beautifully with a lot of variations. With the exception of Hayden, no one else played him comfortably. * Zaheer Khan delivery to Ponting was a peach of a delivery a la Akram. * ZH & RPS initial spell was superb giving away nothing. No pressure whatsoever from the left armers. They meant business The only sore point was Bhaji. He needs to flight the ball and bowl slow. What is the point in bowling @ 100 kph as a spinner. The more flight you have and the more variation, batsmen would be committed to false stroke.

[veer]

The day and age for "hoping for the best" or "that is what we can hope" is well and truly gone. Wake up and smell the coffee. We have done what very few teams have been been able to do in the last decade' date=' restrict Aus for a low first innings score. The message is clear - "[b'] We can compete" Its the Aus who will be nervous now, with the Indian camp experiencing a quiet sense of confidence. Also its good that we go into day 2 with the batsman having one full night to prepare themselves mentally fro the challenge, that may make a huge difference.

now thats what I am talking about.. most people here were talking trash after lunch.. this is TEST match.. game of patience.. just get behind the boys.. our batting line up is mature enough.. also, they dont have mcgrath type of bowler to put us under pressure from word go.. i am just worried about this Dravid opening the inning for us.. one or two beauties from new ball can get him.... he is our main guy.. but fortunately.. others have performed in pak series.. :two_thumbs_up: how about kumble as opener? and play 'pakau' inning for first 30 mins if he survives..