From Brendan Layton, Australia The hotly anticipated India v Australia test series is now over, and strangely the future of Test cricket is now under more scrutiny than ever following a series featuring bland pitches, heated confrontations, and
Cricinfo25-Feb-2013Brendan Layton, Australia
The hotly anticipated India v Australia test series is now over, and strangely the future of Test cricket is now under more scrutiny than ever following a series featuring bland pitches, heated confrontations, and numerous on and off field problems. To be realistic, India should have won this series 4-0, no questions asked.They had a superior team on paper, in their own conditions, and were facing an Australian lineup with no recognised spinner and three quicks without experience bowling to test level on the subcontinent. Australia did incredibly well to hold it to 2-0, and India’s second win only came when Australia made a game chase in the fourth innings that was eventually undone my India’s spin attack.India lost the plot at times during this series, particularly in the field, and undid the hard work their bowlers put in. Ishant Sharma was a worthy man of the series as he was yards ahead of the rest. He bowled manfully and was a constant threat, unlike Zaheer who floundered on the increasingly highway-like pitches, and has now established himself as a world class opening bowler.India’s big problem this series was their inconsistency. They dropped off when they could have had the foot on the throat, and they only barely escaped from threatening situations due to the Australian team’s ineptitude, case points being Bangalore and the final Test at Nagpur. Gautum Gambhir and Virender Sehwag batted well on tracks that allowed the ball to scream hit me. As did the middle order at times, although Laxman was clearly the standout. Dhoni had his moments and the tail provided some spunk. Everything clicked at least once during the series.As for Australia, well, only Mike Hussey came away with his reputation enhanced, with Simon Katich probably not far behind him. All the other batsmen had a touch-and-go series. Ponting himself made a century at Bangalore and then seemed to struggle as Ishant and Harbajan continued to expose his weakness against the ball that moves back in. Clarke had a woeful tour. He fell at critical times and was a shadow of the player that made his presence known here four years ago. His century at Delhi secured the draw but he never really asserted himself. Neither did the dominating Hayden, who struggled for form following a long injury lay off. His 77 was a grand gesture however and gave India a fright on the final day.The remaining players had brief moments that provided little in the end to write home about. Brad Haddin struggled. He had four starts during the series and failed to convert every single one of them into a fifty or century. His glove work was at times rusty and he comes across inexperienced in unfamiliar conditions. Watson was a real conundrum. A player of genuine talent, he was thrust into this tour following the ridiculous dropping of Andrew Symonds and was real hit and miss. He managed a defiant 78 in Mohali as his team crumbled around him, but he achieved better results with the ball, being by a long way the best of the Australian pace men with 10 wickets at 32.10, with a best of 4/42 that gave Australia the slightest of hopes in the final Test.Australia’s biggest problem was their bowling, which never really looked like taking 20 wickets. Their biggest mistake was picking Cameron White, who himself rarely bowls at first class level in deference to Bryce McGain. White never looked threatening and his value with the bat was minuscule at best to compensate for the lack of penetration. The pace attack also floundered. Lee should never have gone on tour. He was never in the right frame of mind and lacked rhythm. Stuart Clark was the only one of the bowlers to keep the batsmen in check, but at the same he wasn’t able to penetrate.Don’t get me started on Johnson. I am firmly convinced he should not be playing Test cricket. He was erratic and never looked threatening with a new ball, due to the fact he couldn’t swing it to save his life. How he continues to play at the expense of Bollinger or Siddle bemuse me, as they are both far superior bowlers to Johnson. Siddle did little in his test debut but it was a tough ask bowling to strong batting lineup on a pitch so flat my grandmother could have scored a century on it. His time will come, he has the talent. Krejza is yet to discover his worth, despite an epic 12 wickets in his debut test. He needs to lower his economy rates and keep getting picked. He may be the player we were searching for.Australia has some deep soul searching ahead of a tough 12 months on their cricket calendar. India too must address some problems within their makeup, such as their inconsistency, the loss of several old hands (Dravid is on borrowed time, but luckily they have the impressive Vijay to take his spot if needed) and a tendency to get defensive when they have a series lead. India are still a strong side and the better side during this series, but a lot more work is needed if they are to overtake Australia as the number one nation.
