Australia vs. India (in Australia)

No BP, my point was that teams nowadays can't render Zaheer ineffective.  He will always trouble you due to him being able to use all form of swing.  It's just like Flintoff, teams couldn't really beat him around, but his wicket taking column wasn't on par with some others.  I'm sure you wouldn't say Flintoff was ineffective.

Man, this sick leave is going to come in handy.  At least I will see Cricket on 2 working days.  Sledge, does Centurion get affected with late afternoon thunderstorm which is common with Cricket in South Africa?  That could be a dampener to my watching.

Anyone got a link to a video of Dravid's Bradman Oration?

Indian bowlers got a real hammering on the first day of the practice game. Not looking too much into it but 400 is quite a score. Why is Zaheer Khan not bowling - if he has to play the boxing day test he should be bowling by now or else he will go out with a hamstring just like he did in England

Tough day for Indian bowlers as expected, agree with Zuhair, if Zaheer is still not bowling then well he better bowl in the 2nd warm up else it's a huge risk playing him on Boxing day.

i mean i think we can beat india (i'm from syndney)

I don't understand this tactic employed by India. Don't you want your bowlers to run in and get some practice behind them, get accustomed to conditions, take a bit of confidence from claiming some wickets? Instead, you have Rohit, Kohli and Ojha bowling a lot of overs and Ishant just walking off after 5. As expected, Vinay Kumar and Mithun proving to be the buffet bowlers; fill your boots time for the aging Aussie batsman if any of these blokes get a game. I expect Ishant, Zaheer and Yadav to play though alongside Ashwin.

Ashwin obviously has a lot of talent with the bat as well, which may be useful, as India's tail will otherwise be quite long. I think they'll go with Ashwin, but I agree with Sam - slow left armers do very well against Australia, heck even Paul Harris has a 6-for against the Aussies.

This practice match that has just been played was a bit of a mismatch to be honest, over 2 days against what you could consider a quasi-Australia C team and an Indian side playing at about 20% capacity, particularly with the ball. Zaheer Khan has to be 100% fit to be a threat, if he's not at full throttle then he will be dispatched as the 4 grounds being used are batting tracks , with the exception of Perth which may provide some assistance (as per Johnson's left arm swing success there against SA and England). Although there are a lot of runs to be scored in Perth still.

The Indian batsmen will love Adelaide with the short square boundaries and placcid conditions, and Melbourne's drop in pitches are always disappointing. I'd also expect India to pick two spinners at Sydney, can't see their third seamer option doing any damage. The other seamers outside of Sharma and Zaheer are quite mediocre, but we'll just have to wait and see how they go with selection. The fact that Sharma is inconsistent to the same extent like Mitchell Johnson will not assist, but if he finds his rhythm then he's dangerous - just ask Ponting from a couple of years back.

Originally posted by BP but Clarke has shown he isn't afraid to use him as an attacking option.

Trust me, after Australia's first bowling day, that mindset of his will change.

It's difficult to see Lyon do really well against the Indians, Lyon will want the pace bowlers to make some early inroads for him to be able to attack or put some pressure, if there are no early breakthroughs then Lyon will struggle. Sehwag and Gambhir are going to be the key early on, I don't think Dravid, sachin or VVS will do that well in this series because they aren't young enough do well on tracks like in Australia. Kohli/Rohit and Dhoni may do well so it's going to be a test I think for the Indian batsmen.

I haven't seen Dan Christian in 5 day cricket but I haven't been overly impressed with what I have seen of him. He was a disappointment for Deccan earlier this year, his batting just looks like a typical LO player and his bowling just appears to be fairly hittable with nothing much going for it. As I said, I haven't seen him at all in FC cricket and who knows, he could be a similar case to Warner but from what I have seen, I don't think he should be representing AUS at Test level.

Also, Ishant is someone who is overrated. He is capable of great bursts as evidenced by his troubling of Ponting, WI series earlier this year, but more often than not, he doesn't look particularly imposing. He is tall, bowls with fairly good pace, can get bounce; he seems to have a lot of attributes that a great fast bowler would typically possess. However, I don't think he has the talent to consistently trouble as there is nothing special about his bowling. His promise is overrated by Indian supporters I feel. He is an OK bowler, nothing more than that. 

Starc looked very ordinary if I am being honest. No way in hell he should play ahead of Bollinger, I can't believe Doug has been overlooked in favour of guys like Starc. I understand Starc is young but he still is nowhere near the class of Pattinson and Cummins, he needs to improve and develop a lot in FC cricket.

Starc will almost certainly not start. If Cummins is not fit, which is most likely the case, then I think they will seek a different option. Not sure who yet, but we'll just have to wait and see. Perhaps Copeland will receive a recall.

I agree on the views above pertaining to Dan Christian, and I for one do not rate him or John Hastings. But I mention his name because he's obviously next in line. MItchell Marsh is one to look out for, and MIckey Arthur likes all rounders. The better choice I think would be Andrew McDonald, whose batting form has been exceptional in the last 2 years and I think his bowling accuracy and his ability to extract seam movement when the conditions allow for it would be very useful.

Edited by Mikey - 18 December 2011 at 8:34am

I'm really not sure about Harris - I think he's one of the best bowlers in the world at the moment, but his fitness is always going to be a problem. He really needs to be able to string a whole series together. If he's fit he's a certain starter. Quite proud of the bowling line up we have these days, I dare say it's probably one of the best in the world. If only the middle order could click better...

Lets not get carried away with Cummins and Pattinson.  They're new to the game, many bowlers have had terrific starts and ended no where.  Watch Fidel Edwards, burst on with a fifer but now, speed with the occassion bag of wickets is all that he is worth.