So the test series is almost upon us, with only 5 days to go. Most of India’s tour match against Victoria has been washed out due to torrential rains in the last couple of days. They have just one more day to go today and then its onto the MCG for the big one.

I believe that all this talk about match practice is bull-s***. India have just recently concluded a 3-match test series against Pakistan. They are definitely not low in match practice. Even though the conditions in Australia are generally different, the wicket in Melbourne is not going to be fast and bouncy. This itself should be more than enough for these experienced players to acclimatise quickly.

The opening is going to be very crucial as it will decide how the series is going to progress. Last time round, Sehwag and Chopra gave the team good starts and that made life easier for the rest of the batsmen to come and launch into the Aussie attack. The same will hold true this time as well. The Indian middle order is jam-packed with batsmen who are raring to go. We have Sachin, Ganguly, Laxman, Dhoni and quite possibly Yuvraj as well. With Irfan Pathan as an all-rounder, there are plenty of batting options.

For India, the key is the bowling combination. If Irfan, Zaheer and RP Singh can get early breakthroughs then Kumble can easily go through the middle and late order which is definitely suspect against good quality spin bowling. Sachin and Yuvraj provide more spinning options for Kumble. India will also need to take their catches. Any chances offered to the Aussies would be folly for they are masters of making their opponents pay heavily for dropped/missed chances.

We all look for a good contest and I believe that India is the only team at the moment that has the capability to defeat the might of the Aussies. Last time them came close to a dream achievement. This time they just might accomplish the dream of a series win in Australia.




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