India vs Australia - Border-Gavaskar Trophy preview
India and Australia have just two Tests to stake their claim on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy before Ricky Ponting and his team fix their sights on reclaiming the Ashes from England during their home summer.
Win, lose or draw this series, you can be sure the result will be all-but forgotten Down Under after the Ashes have been won or lost, and the Australian focus on recapturing the precious urn, even ahead of their current assignment, is clear.
“I think this series [against India] is a good preparation for us ahead of the Ashes,” Australia coach Tim Nielsen has told the ICC Cricket World audio show.
“It's good to come off a break and into these games and looking ahead to where we're going in the next few months which are important,” Nielson added.
Ponting himself will be looking for some strong performances with the bat in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 after a year that, with the exception of the Hobart Test against Pakistan during January (where he scored 209 and 89), hasn’t exactly seen the runs flow for the skipper when he’s donned the baggy green.
In need of a big score, Punter could be excused for being just a little disappointed if India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh steps out to play in the opening Test in Mohali after suffering from a sprained ankle.
Harbhajan is one of few bowlers who can rightly claim to have had the upper-hand over Ponting across his career, and relations between the pair have historically been strained. You’d suspect though that bringing up a much-needed Test ton by driving Harbhajan to the boundary would be just that bit sweeter for the Australia skipper.
While Ponting needs to find runs, if opener Shane http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Watson-c96326’s form in the warm-up match against the Indian Board President’s XI is anything to judge by. The all-rounder finished that drawn tour game with scores of 115 and 104 not-out to firmly establish himself as the best of the visiting batsmen in that match.
Tim Paine, who made his Test debut against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Victoria-c859 next week.
Both teams will welcome back players from the recently Champions League Twenty20 in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 and batsman Suresh Raina returning from the competition for the home side.
In a big plus for the hosts, pace spearhead Zaheer Khan returns to the Test line-up to give the bowling attack a bit more bite after missing India’s away Tests against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 during July and August.
Australia though have a decision to make about whether to include one of their Champions League participants in fast bowler Doug Bollinger in the playing XI for the first Test, while Michael Hussey (who also played in the Twenty20 competition during September) should be an almost automatic inclusion for the visitors.
Finding a bowling attack that will trouble the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, opener http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rahul-c83321 Dravid on home turf will be key for Australia, who have seen injury thwart their attempts to establish a settled bowling line-up in recent times.
Claiming a Test series victory on the subcontinent has long proved to be one of the toughest cricketing assignments Australia has faced, even when they toured as the No. 1 Test side. Doing so against the current top-ranked team in the five-day format might just prove to be an even more difficult task.
Prediction: India to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a 1-0 win.
Tags: