Even as India prepares for the second test match of the ongoing series against Pakistan, 4 fans look ahead to their series down under in less than a month.
Here is an excerpt of their conversation:
Rohit:
John Buchanan’s analysis:
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,22834301-23212,00.html
Manu:
So it begins before the series is upon us
Rohit:
Some more spice:
"There was absolutely no need for a coach at this moment. We're happy with the current support staff (Lalchand Rajput, Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh). We have a high comfort level with them and in any case this being our last tour of Australia, we don't need someone to motivate us or tell us what we're supposed to do," said a senior player, not willing to be named for obvious reasons.
Vinod:
I don’t particularly agree that Prasad and Singh are enough. I really think we need a full-time coach to come up with better strategies. I don’t expect Prasad and Singh to confront seniors as a Chappel or a Wright would do.
Manu:
The blessed seniors have not won anything of note.. they better pipe down and listen to the coach(whoever it is) I want results.. not some ego bloated senior.
Rohit:
I however agree with the statement. The timing is all wrong. Things have been working well for us even without a coach. Let’s keep it that way. Getting a new coach is a major change before Australia.
And the seniors know this is now or never for them. What motivation do they need after this?
Chinmay:
I agree. Indian team has been doing reasonably well without a coach. BCCI should appoint a new coach only after the Australian tour.
What Buchanan has mentioned is nothing new and according to me it applies to all batsmen early on in their innings. I think Tendulkar’s weakness right now is sharp incoming delivery which is mostly due to his slower reflexes.
Rohit:
Let the Aussies feel happy just once that they can get Sachin out with a fixed plan J. They’ve been through 3 tours where they did not know how (other than bad umpiring) to get him out.
What Chinmay says is true. It is not Sachin’s weakness…he has just become slightly mortal after 18 years of international cricket. He is weaker than before. But not weak. And he too is aware of this. And hence we see him changing his game in test matches.
All of Johnson’s successes against him have come in the shorter format of the game when he has the new ball in his hands and Sachin is going for runs. In the longer version of the game, the ball will be older, he will be not as fresh, and Sachin will be more compact.
Laxman at 3! Please!!!!
Vinod:
Actually, I’d not say team is doing reasonably well without a coach. England and Pakistan at the moment are not the best teams around. We lost ODI series to England, although we won the test series. We were outclassed by Aus team. I think playing in Aus is a totally different ball game. Having said that I agree that timing is not correct. It’d not be fair to the coach or the team to gel right away and get results. Unless we have at least 6 players stepping up in each of the test matches, we will probably receive a drubbing.
About Sachin’s weakness: Big deal. Name one batsman who is not tentative in the beginning.
Manu:
Ye of little faith. I think we are going to win in Australia this time around comfortably.. Look at the last test between sri lanka and Australia.. the moment sangakkara jumped on the bullies, they buckled. I can think of not 1 but 3 ( Sachin, Laxman, Dhoni ) who are brilliant counter attackers. The aussie bubble is about to burst. Pity the lankan’s did’nt play a 5 match series. It would’ve been fun to see the outcome there.
All this bluster about plans and opposition team weakness sounds of pre match tension, worries in the home camp. It’s good to see them uncertain of themselves now. The age of the kangaroo is over
Rohit:
I would not go as far as saying we have a great chance of winning. I would love to believe the optimist in your Manu. But I would err on the side of caution.
Hayden, Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, Symonds, Gilchrist…wow…can someone convince me that we can get 20 wickets comfortably? J
Sure…our batting of Laxman, Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly, Dhoni looks impressive as well…but our batsmen are more prone to collapses. I guess the series would be won by the team whose weaker players perform better. By that I mean it is RP Singh, Zaheer Khan, Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and Mitchell Johnson. And for India it also includes Jaffer and (dear god) Kaarthik. 1 plus for us is that we have a proven match winner in Kumble. They have none.
For all their confident exterior, I am sure every Aussie knows this is the last chance for the Indian greats to do it. That ought to make them nervous. If they are not…good for us.
All in all, we need to do everything we did in England and then a little more to stop the Aussie juggernaut. We cannot afford to do any mistakes. It took just 2 missed stumpings from the great Parthiv Patel to miss out on a series win the last time. That should not happen again.
It is going to be one helluva series. Bring it on!
Vinod:
More than anything, I’m really hoping that they play with 11 players instead of 13 (2 umpires!)
