Australia vs India, Boxing Day Test, Day 2
Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test was a cracker. Australia fought through the new ball and dominated before lunch. India fought back in the next two sessions and took the day's honours. Despite losing 9 wickets, Australia still rattled up 337 runs in a day. ABC Radio accused them of batting like cowboys (drawing the inevitable 'cowboys vs indians' pun).
How will Day 2 unfold? I hope the 10th wicket will rattle up more runs, taking us past the 350 mark. Then Brett Lee continue his devastating form, rolling the Indian top order. But more likely is India will finish off our 1st innings within a few overs then bat solidly through the day, knocking up 250 while losing 4 or 5 wickets. Brad Hogg's spell will be significant, both for the 2nd innings and his Test career.
| Posted by JC on Thu 27 Dec |  12 comments |
Hmm, India 1 for 6 after 10 overs. I said solid batting, not stolid batting. On the bright side, it turns out my batting style is based on Rahul Dravid, not Jason Gillespie.
Posted by JC on 2007-12-27 11:37:56
Posted by JC on 2007-12-27 11:37:56
JC, take it from me, your batting style is a cross between Geoff Boycott and Courtney Walsh.
Posted by virtualgaz on 2007-12-27 16:19:37
Posted by virtualgaz on 2007-12-27 16:19:37
Hogmeister cleans up Ganguly - Aussie gold!
Posted by virtualgaz on 2007-12-27 16:24:05
Posted by virtualgaz on 2007-12-27 16:24:05
Gotta love Hoggy - Harbajhan couldn't work him out! 2 For my hero...
Posted by virtualgaz on 2007-12-27 16:54:18
Posted by virtualgaz on 2007-12-27 16:54:18
I had concerns for Hogg early in his spell - attacked by Ganguly and Tendulkar. But he came back well - the flipper to bowl Ganguly was a great delivery. Btw, Gaz, Wendy bought me a Cricket Australia spin ball for Christmas and reading the instructions, I've figured out how to bowl the flipper (it's like solving a puzzle - completely obvious once you know the answer). Looking forward to trying it out at this Saturday's net session.
Posted by JC on 2007-12-27 17:24:37
Posted by JC on 2007-12-27 17:24:37
Mate, like solving the Rubik's Cube is it?
I'll be there to net / be humiliated as usual but I've gotta warn you that I'm carrying a few extra kilos this week so my extra-super-slow deliveries will be even slower and my Murali batting will be more sluggish than ever!
Posted by virtualgaz on 2007-12-27 17:49:31
I'll be there to net / be humiliated as usual but I've gotta warn you that I'm carrying a few extra kilos this week so my extra-super-slow deliveries will be even slower and my Murali batting will be more sluggish than ever!
Posted by virtualgaz on 2007-12-27 17:49:31
For years I struggled to find a replacement for David Boon as the "batsman I'd want to have bat for me if my life depended on it".
Then along came Dravid, a man who put more value on his wicket than any other cricketer in recent times, Steve Waugh excepted.
What has happened to Dravid? It was sad to see him bat today. Didn't look like scoring.
Must be a mental thing as it ain't too different to batting at number three, particular if your openers are a bit hit or miss.
Hoggy's dismissal of Ganguly equals ball of the day. Billy's denial of the lbw shout of Lee against Harbajhan equals humour/farce of the day. Just lucky the appeal wasn't against Tendulkar.
Sensible, positive batting is order of the day all day tomorrow. Kudos to Ponting for persevering with Hogg when many a captain would have spelled him.
Posted by Dan Tas on 2007-12-27 22:01:50
Then along came Dravid, a man who put more value on his wicket than any other cricketer in recent times, Steve Waugh excepted.
What has happened to Dravid? It was sad to see him bat today. Didn't look like scoring.
Must be a mental thing as it ain't too different to batting at number three, particular if your openers are a bit hit or miss.
Hoggy's dismissal of Ganguly equals ball of the day. Billy's denial of the lbw shout of Lee against Harbajhan equals humour/farce of the day. Just lucky the appeal wasn't against Tendulkar.
Sensible, positive batting is order of the day all day tomorrow. Kudos to Ponting for persevering with Hogg when many a captain would have spelled him.
Posted by Dan Tas on 2007-12-27 22:01:50
Yeah india is struggling no doubt!But they will fight back! Opening is a very big problem. I think sehwag should come back! I request all indian guys not to give examples like IAN CHAPPEL said this or STEVE WAUGH said this have you seen any aussie giving example like SUNNY GAVASKER said this or SACHIN said this why should we value aussie people thoughts. I am not here to fight with aussie fans please dont take me wrongly but what i know is we indians know cricket better than anybody else. We dont need anybodys confirmation. It does not mean that i dont respect IAN and STEVE. I really respect IAN's vision and understanding of the game. I am sorry if any aussie fan is feeling bad. I am just trying to convey a message to my indian fans!
Posted by JATINDER on 2007-12-27 22:34:24
Posted by JATINDER on 2007-12-27 22:34:24
This is exactly what I meant when I said that India have to be positive. They weren't aggressive and they paid the price.
I felt pained to see Rahul Dravid's miserable and laboured innings. It makes sense to see off the first 2-3 overs but to block to 5 of 66 balls showed the poor mental state he and the Indian management were in. There is no point in using a player of Dravids calibre to block out the new ball and the other disappointment was that the Aussies havent changed tactics to him since that 2004 tour in India. Pack the off side and bowl wide,nothing on the legs and tempt him to go for it. On hindsight I wish that Bowden had missed that no-ball call because him getting out early would have been much better than watching the wretched innings.
This is why I keep insisting on Sehwag's presence. The seniors may have glittering stats but in the end they're just too predictable and the Aussies already have them figured out. Whereas Sehwag just adds that unpredicability to the lineup which might stun the Aussies.
After day 2 a draw seems the least likely result. Only a colossal collapse or a batting masterstroke from some of the Indians can save India from certain defeat in this test. My hunch is that Aus already have a 1-0 lead...
Posted by Ajesh Nag on 2007-12-27 22:55:33
I felt pained to see Rahul Dravid's miserable and laboured innings. It makes sense to see off the first 2-3 overs but to block to 5 of 66 balls showed the poor mental state he and the Indian management were in. There is no point in using a player of Dravids calibre to block out the new ball and the other disappointment was that the Aussies havent changed tactics to him since that 2004 tour in India. Pack the off side and bowl wide,nothing on the legs and tempt him to go for it. On hindsight I wish that Bowden had missed that no-ball call because him getting out early would have been much better than watching the wretched innings.
This is why I keep insisting on Sehwag's presence. The seniors may have glittering stats but in the end they're just too predictable and the Aussies already have them figured out. Whereas Sehwag just adds that unpredicability to the lineup which might stun the Aussies.
After day 2 a draw seems the least likely result. Only a colossal collapse or a batting masterstroke from some of the Indians can save India from certain defeat in this test. My hunch is that Aus already have a 1-0 lead...
Posted by Ajesh Nag on 2007-12-27 22:55:33
Yeah opening is a very special position and i think we should not tamper with our opening as we have seen in our last tour whenever opening is good our batsman always perform well. I dont think this aussie attack is as lethal as it looks i dont know how tait will perform but this attack is definitely not furious. I think everybody should play in this position! As soon as our opening clicked everybody will fire!
Posted by JATINDER on 2007-12-27 23:53:28
Posted by JATINDER on 2007-12-27 23:53:28
Viru Viru where's Viru???
the man of the moment.donno who there gonna drop or what there gonna do but he has GOT TO be there in htat batting line up.
the Indian team was considered as an also-ran in the beginning of the series. but at the end of the first day i felt this tug of war could go both ways.by the end of the 2nd day,India are left helpless
They just don't want to do things the winners do.if you ask me there was just a fine thread that separated the indian and aussie performance.they dont seemed to care about the basic area's of cricket.
The aussies picked up wickets towards the end of each session.WHY????because the indians tend to wait and wait for the break.They are keeping one eye on the overs.I dont blame them.But with one eye there the visitors tend to relax way to much(they dont play there natural game)while the aussies,though they dont all out they dont keep anticipating the umpire's call for the break.
Another important point
the outfield is slow what do u have to do.
place the ball away from the fielder(a couple of yards will do enough),the ball will travel slowly pick up a a single.Simple.
Haydos is also in his 30's and he is a much much bigger man than vvs or rahul and he picked the singles with ease(ok ok indian's are really bad on the field my god the throws from the deep where nothing shot of awful most of the time)
little drops of water make up a might ocean.thats what i learned in kindergarten unfortunately most people in that Indian dressing room dint.
Posted by vishnu on 2007-12-28 02:14:08
the man of the moment.donno who there gonna drop or what there gonna do but he has GOT TO be there in htat batting line up.
the Indian team was considered as an also-ran in the beginning of the series. but at the end of the first day i felt this tug of war could go both ways.by the end of the 2nd day,India are left helpless
They just don't want to do things the winners do.if you ask me there was just a fine thread that separated the indian and aussie performance.they dont seemed to care about the basic area's of cricket.
The aussies picked up wickets towards the end of each session.WHY????because the indians tend to wait and wait for the break.They are keeping one eye on the overs.I dont blame them.But with one eye there the visitors tend to relax way to much(they dont play there natural game)while the aussies,though they dont all out they dont keep anticipating the umpire's call for the break.
Another important point
the outfield is slow what do u have to do.
place the ball away from the fielder(a couple of yards will do enough),the ball will travel slowly pick up a a single.Simple.
Haydos is also in his 30's and he is a much much bigger man than vvs or rahul and he picked the singles with ease(ok ok indian's are really bad on the field my god the throws from the deep where nothing shot of awful most of the time)
little drops of water make up a might ocean.thats what i learned in kindergarten unfortunately most people in that Indian dressing room dint.
Posted by vishnu on 2007-12-28 02:14:08
India probably lost their best opportunity to win a test match in australia.poor batting display...totally pathetic.i wish i could have said there were demons in the pitch or the australian bowling was exceptional ..not taking anything away from their bowling it is generally good but very playable. opening with dravid was a disater . you cant open with dravid he allows the bowlers to dominate you and get on top of you . the balance is very important . you cant defend against australia .i am not implying that you have to hit at every ball but when you get a ball you should be bale to convert it and if you keep on doing that , you will keep on getting bad balls and the balance will be maintained .i think the game is as good as dead for india unless the weather gods come up to their rescue which is highly unlikely looking at the sn shine 499 thats a very big ask...
Posted by deezina on 2007-12-28 17:19:25
Posted by deezina on 2007-12-28 17:19:25
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