Cricket Special Report: Australia’s downfall and vulnerability in the recently concluded Test series in India
The once mighty Australians, who use to dominate every cricket pitch in the world, are not enjoying the same status as they were titled to be. The invincible Ricky Ponting does not have the same look as a captain, as he used to display before in a hammering
fashion to the World of cricket. It was just a matter of time, with the retirement of star players like, Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer, Shane Warne, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Adam-Gilchrist-c918 and Mathew Hayden, started the down-fall of the Ricky’s empire.
It was always of a greater interest that how Australia will fare after their legendary players hung their boots. Everyone knew it that it is always going to be difficult to remain the champions after losing so many of their veterans. As expected, the world
of cricket has seen the demise of the Australian empire as the Kangaroos lost their prestigious number one rank and now they are ranked below at 5, under their Arch rivals England.
They lost a Test to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 in 1992, the dominant
side in that period.
Furthermore, Ponting became the first captain to lose two Ashes series in England on the trot, since Bill Murdoch in the 19th century. In 2008, India beat them convincingly in the four match series by 2-0.
The most recent defeat that they have registered in a 2 match Test series is a whitewash at the hands of today’s number one side, India. In doing so, the Australian’s conceded their 3rd clean sweep in the history.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 lost the series to the best Test side in the world, mainly because of their second innings batting, considerably the way they bat in the 2nd innings, posting over 400 runs in both the affairs. To add to it, it is not only their batsmen,
but bowlers also have been disappointing in the series, particularly in the 2nd Test.
In the first Test at Mohali, only a wicket separated the two teams as they featured in a hard fought contest, it could have gone either way. As expected, the 2nd battle at Bangalore could have been a close game, but India showed why they are the
top side as they trounced Australia by seven wickets.
Moreover, the 2nd innings debacles revealed many bad things about the Australian middle order batsmen. First, they showed vulnerability against the spin bowling, and the swinging bowl has also caused some havoc in their line-up. Although, the
spinners did not take many wickets as the score board would tell, it was the quick bowlers with the reversing ball, who really devastated the late order. But you would see that, it was all started by the spinners and fast men took complete advantage of it
in the end to finish off the innings.
Michael Clarke, who is best player of spin bowling in Kangaroos batting ranks, really struggled against the spinners. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120’s poor form during the tour contributed to the 2nd innings disasters as he only added 34 runs on the tour.
Mitchell Johnson performed in bits and pieces. He was sometimes wayward and bowled couple of good spells. This is what you can get from him and as a captain; this is what you have to live with. Nonetheless, the left armer will take wickets.
Ben Hilfenhaus was the pick of the bowlers in India, though his figures might not suggest it. Hilfenhaus bowled particularly well in both the innings, troubling the strong batting of India with his accuracy and pace.
Nathan Hauritz struggled against the mighty South Asian’s, but he can’t be blamed because it happens even to the best of spinners in India, as even Shane Warne and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Muttiah-Muralitharan-c78157 are also averaging over 40 in the country.
Ricky Ponting was one of the few positive for the Australians; nobody has seen Ponting play so well in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750. This is the best he has played in the country as he his foot work was sharp and he was looking to be positive from the start. This is a good sign
for Australia ahead of the Ashes.
On the whole, Australian’s were dominated by India, and they will be mighty disappointed after losing the series by a margin of 2-0.
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