Two Days to the Aussies

After the show the Indian bowlers put up early in the first day, I expected them to restrict the Aussies to a score below 350. I was expecting Clarke to bat well but I did not expect Gilchrist to last long against our spinners. Gilchrist is a good one to watch if he is not playing against your team. The Indian batsmen should have shown a little more application. Those who got starts got out at crucial points. Parthiv Patel might have a fifty against Australia but it was when India had put on a huge total and there was Sachin to guide him at the other end. If he does not get out in the first few overs, I expect he will shore up one end. Irfan can bat but I think the bowling attack is too good for him. Kumble can dig in. Harbhajan has his own style of batting. Zaheer might provide some entertainment to the crowd with his hitting. With all this I expect India will avoid follow on or fall just short if the current pair makes a stand. Otherwise the openers better get their pads on. You cant expect a Eden Gardens every time you follow on. India will mostly lose the test but they better salvage a little pride

The Seniors make it

The Indian team keeps its pride intact. After a sporting declaration by India A, yuvraj singh and sehwag scored centuries to take the seniors to victory. We must note that the axe was hanging on their necks. Laxman and dravid wasted a good opportunity to get some batting practice. It would have been good if they had won by seven wickets instead of five. Tendulkar was named in the fifteen member squad, even when he says he is able to play 15 balls a day without pain. I do hope he recovers fully before playing. It is idiotic to think in short term about sachin. what is the use if you make him play one test and aggravate his injury? Now Srirams place in the team is in doubt. Kaif made a very good pitch for a test spot. He might be able to get the captains nod ahead of Sriram. In the other match Australians did not seem in much trouble against the mumbai attack. Bahutule troubled matthew hayden with his spin. Bhajji and kumble might as well take a leaf out of his book.( I really think I am suffering from cryptamnesia).

Indian team back to "form"

It was good to see the indian seniors team given a humbling treatment by the juniors. Ganguly almost looks like he wants yuvraj singh opening the innings. Akash Chopra has been given a honourable exit by means of a "niggling throat infection". If the seniors show as much "application" as they showed in the first innnings they will surely loose. One good thing is Zaheer khan is back into the attack. The first time I saw him bowl in Nairobi , he was bowling excellent yorkers. he cut those out of his book(They generally end up as full tosses against the australians). I guess the team would be Yuvraj,sehwag,dravid,sriram,ganguly,laxman,parthiv, harbhajan , zaheer , pathan . The last place might be a toss between agarkar and kumble depending on the performance. let me see what the circus selects tomorrow.