Australia’s comprehensive win in the Kochi one-dayer has not only signalled their intent of winning this one-day series but also the gap that exists between them and the Indians. By the 30th over of the Indian innings the match was as good as over and the Indian skipper only tried to prolong the inevitable. The pitch had an uneven bounce mainly because the rains prevented the groundsman from giving it the full treatment. So, batsmen needed to apply themselves and keep their concentration going. That is what the Australians did though they did not get the electrifying start that they get from Adam Gilchrist. He and Brad Hodge failed again but Hayden was immovable despite the heat and humidity and he had good company in Andrew Symonds.
Kochi is the home ground of Sreesanth and he had openly expressed his desire of getting five wickets in the game in front of his home crowd. Such a statement would definitely get the Aussies charged up and they would have been keen not just to deny Sreesanth but also hammer him in front of his home crowd. Sreesanth did get a fair bit of tap like the other Indian bowlers, but he also got three wickets so he did not do badly at all. Where India got let down was in the spin department, where their bowlers were taken for plenty. The difference between the Australians and other teams’ batsmen is the use of the feet. The Aussies are nimble and totally unafraid to go down the pitch to the spinners, not to smother the spin but to hit the ball. Symonds in particular was particularly harsh on the spinners and Haddin showed why the Australians have picked him down the order. For the second consecutive game he played an important innings and helped take Australia past 300. Australia’s strength is that someone or the other puts his hand up when the occasion demands it and if it was Michael Clarke in the first game, it was Symonds and Haddin in Kochi.
India’s new opening pair is not clicking with Tendulkar failing in Bangalore and Gambhir here. While chasing such a target, where the asking rate is over 6 runs an over from the first ball, a good brisk start is needed but India is not getting it. Uthappa, who can open, is batting first wicket down and he showed a good range of shots. There was a bit of resistance from Dravid and the skipper Dhoni, but the asking rate never came down and so the pressure remained throughout the innings. The Australians gave nothing away in the field and with the outfield being heavy with all the rain from the previous day, the ball did not always travel quickly across it. India needed a big partnership which didn’t happen nor was there an individual brilliant innings that could have taken them close to the Australian total. Somehow the impression that one got was that the Indians had pretty much looked at the target as an impossible one.
In both the matches so far the Australians have shown an ability to recover after early setbacks and their fielding also has been much sharper than the Indians. This gives them an edge over the Indians who defend heavily on their batting strength to click to win the game.
The five-bowler theory has clearly not worked in the two games so far and maybe it’s time for the Indians to bolster their batting and make use of Tendulkar, Yuvraj and Ganguly as their fifth bowler. They have to lift their game considerably if they are to match the world champions.
