Review - 1st Test India Vs Australia , Bangalore Oct 9-13, 2008

Phew!!!

What a Test match it had been! The 1st test between India and Australia at Bangalore.

5 days of engrossing Test match Cricket.People thought that with the advent of IPL and other T20 formats, Test cricket would soon be a thing of the past. But when you have 2 teams like India and Australia pitted against each other, you are bound to be glued to the on-field action (and off-field action as well).

15 sessions of play on a cracking surface could not seperate India and Australia. Both teams had their own moments but neither team dominated proceedings in such a way as to take a lead in the series opener.
Here are some outcomes from the series

Positive Outcomes for India:

1. Impressive performance by the fast bowlers Zaheer and Ishant. Zaheer commends special mention with a deserving Man of the Match. He had a few words of caution for the Australians
   
2. Dada's (Sourav) ominous form - He missed out on a deserved half-century in the first innings and played a patient second innings to help India draw the first Test match.
3. The resilience shown by the Indian tail against a moderate (if not strong) Aussie pace attack
4. Harbhajan's role both with the bat and ball ( I felt that India would play 3 fast bowlers and a spinner which might have been - Zaheer , Ishant, R.P.Singh and Kumble, but Harbhajan did a more than decent job to cement his place in the team for the rest of the series).

Things for India to ponder upon:

1. The highly unpredictable nature of the Indian middle order. In the first innings, the Indian middle order (except Dada and Dravid) wilted under pressure, while in the second innings they held fort to secure a draw for India
2. Lack of ability to continuously apply pressure on the Aussies: on Day 4 of the Test, when Anil Kumble did not take field due to his shoulder injury, Dhoni acted as the standing captain and he had an attacking field-set to compliment some fantastic bowling from Ishant and Harbhajan during the start of Aussie 2nd innings, but when Kumble was back on field he took a defensive aproach. This approach proved to be costly after the Australians took the score from 133-5 to 193-5 , especially with an out of form Brad Haddin and an inexperienced Shane Watson at the crease.

Things Australia need to worry:

1. Hayden's form: Hayden had the best batting average in the current Australian squad but was dismissed cheaply for 0 and 13.
2. Lack of a specialist spinner might give Ponting a few head-aches. Ponting picked Cameron White instead of Krezja because Krezja was thrashed black and blue in the tour match against Board President's XI. But White did not prove to be any better. He just managed to get Tendulkar's wicket(which was largely due to Tendulkar's nervousness, which is so characterestic of him when he is on 49 and in the 90s). By the way, what a moment to have the world's best batsman as your first Test scalp.
   
3. Moderate pace attack: the likes of Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson and Stuart Clark who troubled the Indians during India's tour of Australia turned out to be a damp squib with none of the bowlers except Mitchell Johnson(in the first innings) being able to trouble the Indian batsmen convincingly
   

The teams now move on to Mohali for the Second test which starts on October 17, 2008.
Lets see how the teams learn from their First test experiences and put it into action effectively when the action begins this Friday.


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