Australian batsmen to watch out for in the 2nd Test
The two match Test series between India and Australia has already been enjoyable and exciting to watch. Every match between the two cricketing giants is full of excitement as each player goes about his business in full throttle.
The first Test of the series didn’t prove to be an exception as the fans saw a historic game at PCA stadium Mohali.
The pitch at Mohali witnessed an absorbing Test match cricket between India and Australia in the first Test of the two Test match series of Border-Gavaskar trophy. Australia lost a heart breaker to India by one wicket.
Moreover, India retained the Border Gavaskar trophy as a result of their win in the first Test of the two match series. Last time around, in 2008, India beat Australia by 2-0 in the four match Test series at home.
In the last 5 contests between the two divas of International cricket, India has dominated the Aussies. The team from South Asia has won 3 of them. The remaining two matches have been drawn. All these matches have been played on Indian soil. So Indians had
the home advantage.
Australia, last won a Test match in India in 2004 at Bangalore. In the same series, the team from Down Under finally conquered the final frontier by beating http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 2-1 in the series. It was then, they boasted of a bowling attack comprising of Glenn McGrath,
Shane Warne and Jason Gillespie. Now they have all retired from international cricket.
However, the latest bowling resources for the Kangaroos comprise of, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger, Mitchell Johnson and spinner Nathan Hauritz. This is good bowling attack, but not as penetrating as the previous Aussie attack, that was victorious in India.
So the pressure is on Australia’s batting in the current series, which looks more solid than their bowling.
So it is better to discuss their top class batsman to watch out in the ongoing Border and Gavaskar series.
Shane Watson
Shane Watson first earned the status of being one of the best all-rounders in the World through sheer hard work and dedication. From being an all-rounder he has become a reliable opening batsman in both forms of the game.
It was in the Ashes of 2009, at Birmingham in the 3rd Test, of the series that he started his career as an opener, though he made his debut way back in 2005 against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 at Sydney. The all-rounder replaced, out of form opener Phil Jacques,
and since then he has never looked back.
Overall, he has played 13 matches as an opener, scoring 1172 runs at an impressive average of 50 with 2 centuries. One of his 2 centuries came in the recently concluded Mohali Test.
Moreover, his 126 runs in the first innings helped the final score to 425. He was the only batsman in the Australian team, who showed signs of great touch in the 2nd innings, by scoring a brisk 56 of just 59 balls in a modest total of 192.
Currently, Watson is their most inform batsman. The all-rounder has bagged runs in both the innings of Mohali Test. So Australia would be banking on an inform http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326 to contribute to their series levelling cause. If the all-rounder clicks again with the
bat, then the possibility of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 putting on a good total on the board, and putting India under pressure becomes more than possible.
Ricky Ponting
Australia’s most successful batsman, Ricky Ponting doesn’t need any introduction. The Australian master has the most number of Test centuries (39) and runs (12101), after Tendulkar. He has been successful with the bat in all parts of the World except India.
In India, the veteran Aussie has featured in 13 Test matches, scoring 513 runs at a poor average of 22 with a single century. So he will be eyeing the 2nd Test match to redeem himself with the bat in India.
This might be his last tour of India, who knows. This can be his last chance to improve his dismal record in India. If he fires in the 2nd Test, than there is a fair chance that his team records a healthy total.
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