Sports
India well equipped to take on Australia (Column: Just Sport)
By
Veturi SrivatsaIndia have not beaten Australia in any form of cricket in four months
they have been Down Under. Does that count for anything in the context
of the World Cup? It does not appear so seeing the unbeaten run of
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men on their way to Thursday’s semifinal.
Michael
Clarke has acknowledged the stunning turnaround in the performance of
the Indians after the bilateral series and paid a handsome compliment to
Dhoni for his role in the reversal of form. He also now thinks India
are a quality side and played like champions that they are in the run up
to the semifinals.
Come to think of it, they utilised the Tests
and tri-series keeping an eye on the World Cup and that explains some
inexplicable decisions of the team’s think-tank like persisting with
injured players and trying out practically every player who is likely to
play in the World Cup.
Every player was given confidence that he
is wanted and not a mere bench-warmer even if he was not played in any
game. Every move was planned and calculated. The players justified their
selection.
Dhoni backed his players to the hilt. He defended
Rohit Sharma first and then Virat Kohli as both at different stages
found runs difficult to get. He found virtues in the way they approached
their innings. Add to it his own unflappable approach to things both
on-and-off the field.
What is baffling is that on the eve of the
semifinal, the discussion is not on the relative strengths of the teams,
it is centred on the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) pitch.
Some
media men captured Clarke talking to the SCG curator Tom Parker and
straightaway raised a hue and cry. The International Cricket Council
(ICC), whose property is the World Cup, will take care of him.
Without
disputing Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq’s assertion that India have
the edge playing at the spin-friendly SCG, Clarke was quick to point out
that not a ball turned in their game against Sri Lanka and that he
noticed a bit of grass in the last game played there.
Not only
Clarke, teammates Glenn Maxwell, James Faulkner and Mitchell Johnson
were literally pleading with the SCG curator to leave some grass for
their pacemen to gain the upper hand.
What Australia does not
seem to realise is that the Indians performed well at the SCG, both with
bat and ball. This talk of pitch is only to divert serious performance
issues.
India have batsmen in form and they have enough
experience, as Clarke says, of the conditions. They have batsmen to take
on Australian pace. Rohit has a hundred against them in the tri-series.
If Clarke or any pundit thinks that the Australian full-time or
part-time spinners can be a threat to Indian batsmen, it is laughable.
Even
if there is grass on the pitch, Indian pacers are as good as any in the
business now. This an attack that took 70 wickets bowling out every
team they played in the tournament. Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and
Mohit Sharma have understood where to pitch and have been richly
rewarded.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s off-spin played his part without
any fuss. He and Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina took care of the
middle overs so well that the batsmen had to chance their arm against
the pace.
To put it simply, the fast bowlers not only provided
early breakthroughs but they also came back to take wickets bowling in
the batting power play and at the death. In between, the spinners
provided the buffer.
Balance wise, India look a lot better than
Australia, who will have to make do with part-time spinners. Clarke
doesn’t seem to have much confidence in the ability of left-arm spinner
Xavier Doherty and may not play him. He may be longing for Nathan Lyon
at this stage of the tournament.
The pitch played differently in
three recent Cup matches. It played flat and true when Australia took on
Sri Lanka whereas England and Afghanistan pacers found the ball seam
quite a bit before it was back to be a slow turner for the Sri
Lanka-South Africa quarterfinal in which leggie Imran Tahir took four
wickets.
Whatever be the history or statistics point to, the
recent matches and pitch behaviour should gladden Indian hearts. But
then a World Cup semifinal can bring in other factors in to play just as
seen in the first semifinal between New Zealand and South Africa.
That is pressure and it can do anything at any time.
(Veturi Srivatsa is a senior journalist. The views expressed are personal. He can be reached at [email protected])