That is what Billie Jean King had written to Maria Sharapova in a text message before the Australian Open final. May be, that helped Sharapova squeeze her large frame out of a tight corner, when she was trailing 4-5 0-30 in the first set.
And that is what India will need to remember when they get up tomorrow morning and gear up for the battle to save the test. A result not foreseen by many commentators. Dean Jones too, till yesterday, was only discussing the possibility of a draw or India’s win.
It may be a bit premature to discuss that possibility of survival right now at lunch time, but the possibility is real indeed considering the inability of the umpires to muster up the courage to give even the most glaring of leg before decisions. Nearing the business end of one of the most competitive of series, the umpires too seem to be playing safe, and why not! One can only say that they have decided to award LBWs only in the rarest of rare cases.
Australia, if they end up today day with a lead of around 125 to 150, may even declare overnight to put the top order of India under pressure.Scares of Sydney revisited? Well, they will if India try only to defend. They will have to fight with uncluttered mind as they go about the business of saving the test and hope that the umpires maintain the consistency, with which they have refused to give leg before decisions. Sehwag took a potshot at Australian slow scoring rate on Saturday saying ‘’they are scared.’’ Now, India will have to show Australia how to score on day five as a purely defensive approach could be suicidal.
The most disappointing factor has been, as Gavaskar said, the very very disappointing bowling. Strange things have happened in this test. India crossed 500 with six regular batsmen, and may have failed to put brakes on Australia reaching over 550-600 for the first time in the series. Though things could have been little different had RP not been ruled out little too early.
Meanwhile, Sania Mirza will be looking to create history in an hour or two from now. For once, tennis will upstage cricket with India’s chances looking much brighter in Melbourne, than at Adelaide!
Showing posts with label Melbourne Test. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Melbourne Test. Show all posts
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Uneasy calm before Melbourne Storm
Less than 24 hours before the mega-showdown at Melbourne, nostalgia, serenity, and a sense of history enveloped Indian newspapers, succinctly described by a headline in the Times of India, calling it ‘’calm before the storm’’.
There was also an interesting piece of statistics which said Australia have won each of their last eight matches on this ground beginning with that thumping 180-run win against India in 1999. India were whitewashed 0-3 in the 1999 series – a result ‘predicted’ by the then BCCI secretary Mr Lele even before the series had started!
For India too, this is their most successful ground in Australia as they have won two matches against Australia here, the last one being that famous almost ‘walk over’ match when under Gavaskar’s leadership, Ghavri and Kapil’s heroics with the ball helped India defend a meager total and beat Greg Chappell-led Australia.
The Hindustan times had an article ‘’Bowl India Bowl..Fast’, where the writer tried to convince that ‘’given the general lack of success that finger spinners have had in Australia, a lot is going to depend on India’s pacemen.
However, her opinion goes against what many experts believe. There looks to be a general consensus among many ex-players that India must carry their best attack on this ground even if they have to have two spinners.
They believe the ground will assist spin and help India if Australia play the fourth innings with marginally defendable total. Even Australia will bank on Hogg, a relatively inexperienced spinner, to make inroads in the absence of McGill.
Yesterday, even Ponting and Gilchrist had come out in support of Hogg.An interesting item in the Indian Express was on Gujarati community. They were full of admiration for Indian cricketers, little disappointed that fellow Gujarati Parthiv Patel was not there, and celebrated the re-election of Narendra Modi!
But come tomorrow, the politics of cricket will take the centrestage among the Indians and Modi will be forgotten. As of now, both the teams look eager to take the field. While Ganguly has remarked that he is not feeling any pressure as he goes for this century, Clarke is adamant that Australia will put the pressure back on the Indians.
It is indeed uneasy calm before the storm. In the battle of words, Indians have so far proved to be equal to the Australians. Come tomorrow, and they will be eager to back their words with action.
Meanwhile, Below is the link to Christmas and New Year wishes, which I have prepared for friends and readers of this blog.http://spiritualsolace.blogspot.com/2007/12/may-this-christmas-and-new-year-endow.html
There was also an interesting piece of statistics which said Australia have won each of their last eight matches on this ground beginning with that thumping 180-run win against India in 1999. India were whitewashed 0-3 in the 1999 series – a result ‘predicted’ by the then BCCI secretary Mr Lele even before the series had started!
For India too, this is their most successful ground in Australia as they have won two matches against Australia here, the last one being that famous almost ‘walk over’ match when under Gavaskar’s leadership, Ghavri and Kapil’s heroics with the ball helped India defend a meager total and beat Greg Chappell-led Australia.
The Hindustan times had an article ‘’Bowl India Bowl..Fast’, where the writer tried to convince that ‘’given the general lack of success that finger spinners have had in Australia, a lot is going to depend on India’s pacemen.
However, her opinion goes against what many experts believe. There looks to be a general consensus among many ex-players that India must carry their best attack on this ground even if they have to have two spinners.
They believe the ground will assist spin and help India if Australia play the fourth innings with marginally defendable total. Even Australia will bank on Hogg, a relatively inexperienced spinner, to make inroads in the absence of McGill.
Yesterday, even Ponting and Gilchrist had come out in support of Hogg.An interesting item in the Indian Express was on Gujarati community. They were full of admiration for Indian cricketers, little disappointed that fellow Gujarati Parthiv Patel was not there, and celebrated the re-election of Narendra Modi!
But come tomorrow, the politics of cricket will take the centrestage among the Indians and Modi will be forgotten. As of now, both the teams look eager to take the field. While Ganguly has remarked that he is not feeling any pressure as he goes for this century, Clarke is adamant that Australia will put the pressure back on the Indians.
It is indeed uneasy calm before the storm. In the battle of words, Indians have so far proved to be equal to the Australians. Come tomorrow, and they will be eager to back their words with action.
Meanwhile, Below is the link to Christmas and New Year wishes, which I have prepared for friends and readers of this blog.http://spiritualsolace.blogspot.com/2007/12/may-this-christmas-and-new-year-endow.html
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