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- Mickey Arthur admits difficult selection dilemma in bowling #IndvsAus
- MS Dhoni should bat at no. 6 in test, says Rahul Dravid #IndvsAus
- Shane Warne urges Australia to play two spinners against India in Hyderabad test #IndvsAus
- James Pattinson could be rested for India-Australia Hyderabad test #IndvsAus
- Zaheer Abbas feels Pakistan will bounce back in ODIs against South Africa #PakvsSA
| Mickey Arthur admits difficult selection dilemma in bowling #IndvsAus Posted: 27 Feb 2013 03:30 AM PST
“That’s going to be the million dollar question,” Arthur said when asked whether the Aussies would go for a two-pronged spin attack in the Test starting on March 2. “It’s easy in hindsight having a look at how the wicket ended up, you probably would have liked two spinners on there, however, our quicks took most wickets. We didn’t get a massive return from spin in this game. I thought James Pattinson was outstanding, so it’s a difficult dilemma,” he explained. Arthur said the visiting side, which lost by eight wickets in the first Test, is not sure about the bowling attack for the second Test. “Looking at the way it ended up probably two spinners (would have been good) but our quicks were the most likely out there, so I am not sure which way really,” he said.
Xavier Doherty is the second spin option for the Australians if they decide to go for more than one slow bowlers. “I think on wickets like this balls turning into you are just as effective, because you’ve actually got to play,” Arthur was quoted as saying. “You can’t leave balls alone. Balls coming into the bat on wickets that have crumbled are almost as tough to play. Ideally you want both, and I did a lot of looking at the England series and they used Panesar a lot,” he explained. Arthur said the opening Test was a massive learning experience for the team’s only full-time spinner Nathan Lyon, conceded 244 runs for four wickets. “I think he has learnt from this game that you have got to be really consistent in conditions like this in order to put the batsmen under any sort of pressure, but I think he will grow and he will learn from this game,” Arthur said. “It will be interesting to see how he pulls up after this Test match and in terms of information and preparation and everything he worked extremely hard coming into this Test match. Only he knows how he will approach things if he plays in the next Test match and how that is going to go.”  |
| MS Dhoni should bat at no. 6 in test, says Rahul Dravid #IndvsAus Posted: 27 Feb 2013 02:38 AM PST
Dhoni batted at number six in the just-concluded first Test against Australia and went on to score a game-changing knock of 224 in the first innings. It was after two years that Dhoni played at number six as the last time Indian skipper played at this position was in February 2010 against South Africa in Nagpur. In his 116 Test innings so far, Dhoni has played at number six or above only 17 times, mostly featuring at number seven. Dravid said Dhoni’s decision to bat a little up the order was right and he should stick with it.
“He has moved up the order a little bit which has given him a chance to play such an innings, batting at number seven is difficult. At six, he will have an established batsman before him and an all-rounder after him,” Dravid said. “From India’s point of view, they will want him to replicate this abroad and if he can actually bat at number six abroad, it will make India a different side, it will change the complexion of Indian team, the balance of the team will be different,” Dravid said. “No one is expecting a 200 from him every time he plays abroad but a level of consistency abroad will change the complexion of the Indian side,” he added. India’s next foreign assignment is against South Africa and Dravid wants Dhoni to bat at number six there. “I will want him to be at no 6 and I would like him to make a fist of it at no 6 in abroad as well…. It could allow you to play an all-rounder or someone like (Ravindra) Jadeja at 7 and three fast bowler. Of course Jadeja has to up his own batting. It will give a balance and option to the team. Whether they would have the courage to do it abroad, remains to be seen,” said the 40-year-old cricketer. Asked if the double-century will give Dhoni a little breathing space after facing the flak as a captain for quite sometime, Dravid said, “I don’t think a lot of these stuff bothers him. That’s why he survived and had a lot of success.” “This innings was important for him from his own point of view. If you keep losing and doing that day in and day out you can become weary of the job. You need some enjoyment, some reinforcement. There is nothing like scoring runs and winning as a captain, you need that reinforcement and this innings will be an reinforcement,” he said. Dravid, who now captains Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, was also impressed with R Ashwin, who scalped 12 wickets in the series-opener against Australia. “Ashwin had a sort of setback but he has spent a lot of time with his coach. I don’t judge the youngsters by their setbacks. He has worked on his game and bowled a lot fuller during the Test, he bowled a lot slower. It is nice to see that he has bounced back from setback and it is a good sign going ahead,” he said. Asked if Dhoni has become more expressive as a captain, looking at the way he showed his emotions during the first Test, Dravid said, “I don’t think he has changed too much.” “He is a good captain, of course there are areas which he needs to work on and keep getting better. But the team is changing, so he has to connect with the youngsters on a one-to-one basis a lot more and pass on his experience. “When he first become captain, there was this famous quote that Dhoni was India’s first grown up captain because he didn’t show his emotions on field. People are different and I think he is passionate and he wants to win. But I don’t think he is someone who will express himself too much. I don’t think his inherent nature will change. I like the fact that he has done some forward thinking, discussions off the field with the bowlers,” he added. Dravid also didn’t write off Australia but said Michael Clarke and the selection panel need to pick the right team if they want to bounce back from the defeat. “They had the opportunity to give India a bit of scare. Peter Siddle and Mitchell Starc didn’t bowl particularly well. But they did pose some questions to India. They posted 380 in the first innings on a turning track. But to get a bigger impact they need to get their selection right. If the track keeps turning like it did in Chennai, they have to pick a second spinner,” he said. “(James) Pattinson was excellent. They have pace but they didn’t get the bowl to reverse swing enough. (Mitchell) Johnson had a lot of success in India. May be they may think of bringing in Johnson and also have (Xavier) Doherty. They are not far off. But they need to have their star players performing. Once they get start, they need to go on.” Dravid feels the immediate solution for Australia would be to get someone to stop the run flow from one end, something which Monty Panesar did during England’s successful tour of India last year. Dravid said India need to win the four-match series to get their confidence back before flying to South Africa. “I agree, it will be different conditions when we tour South Africa, New Zealand and England next, but we need to build the confidence first. I know a lot of questions will be asked, if India lose and people will get dropped, which doesn’t help. From India’s point of view, they need to win first,” he said.  |
| Shane Warne urges Australia to play two spinners against India in Hyderabad test #IndvsAus Posted: 27 Feb 2013 12:46 AM PST
Debate over the selection of Australia’s second Test team is growing louder as the visitors lick their wounds after their heavy eight-wicket defeat in Chennai, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Warne said if the best spinning option is to add Xavier Doherty in the Australian team alongside Nathan Lyon then the selectors must do that. Australia is being widely pilloried for relying on pace in its first Test failure, in which Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin routed the visitors with 12 wickets, but the spin-bowling options lack credentials, the paper reported.
Warne’s choice Doherty took just two first-class wickets in two matches this summer, at an average of 80, and he took 3-108 off 24 overs against India A in a tour match. An accomplished one-day tweaker, Doherty has taken three wickets in two Tests at an average of 108, being jettisoned after taking 1-158 off 27 overs against England in Adelaide in 2010. His overall first-class record is 122 wickets from 52 games at 44.56. All-rounder Steve Smith, a shock selection in the Test squad, has taken three Test wickets in five matches at 73, and has become more of a part-time bowler since his last Test in January 2011. Inexperienced Victorian off-spinning all-rounder Glenn Maxwell seems to have stronger claims, having taken his 27 first-class wickets at 33, but his bowling has tended to play second fiddle to his batting, especially in short-form cricket, and he averages 42 from his 24 first-class knocks. (ANI)  |
| James Pattinson could be rested for India-Australia Hyderabad test #IndvsAus Posted: 27 Feb 2013 12:15 AM PST
There is only a three-day turnaround until the second Test begins on Saturday, and Australia will consider what effect the rigours of the Chennai defeat had on the 22-year-old Victorian, who was making his international return from a lower rib injury suffered against South Africa in November, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. India completed an eight-wicket win here on Tuesday morning, successfully managing a 50-run chase after Australian debutant Moises Henriques was left stranded on 81 not out. The home side leads the four-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series 1-0. Pattinson, along with NSW all-rounder Henriques, was a leading light for Australia, claiming 5-96 in the first innings including five of India’s top seven batsmen, and adding another in their brief second dig.
Pattinson is coming off what the team’s high-performance staff regard as a low base, entering the first Test with only a Sheffield Shield appearance in January and a two-day tour game in Chennai, as well as a cameo in club cricket last month, the paper said. After being used carefully by captain Michael Clarke earlier in the match Pattinson bowled only six overs in two full sessions on Saturday, but devastated the India top order in the process, the paper added. The concern with Pattinson’s workload is due to his previous breakdowns, as after starring against South Africa in Brisbane, he went down during the second Test in Adelaide, wiping him out for the rest of the international summer, the paper reported. Selectors receive advice from the high-performance team on players’ workloads and fitness before every match, and then make a decision, and therefore there is a probability the quick could be rested in the next Test. (ANI)  |
| Zaheer Abbas feels Pakistan will bounce back in ODIs against South Africa #PakvsSA Posted: 26 Feb 2013 11:52 PM PST
Abbas said the batsmen performed horribly in the Test series and it appeared as if the team didn’t prepare for the series at all, reports The News. He said the team needs to be strong not only in the bowling and batting department, but should also perform well in fielding in order to beat a top team like South Africa. However, Abbas said Pakistan has been playing well in ODIs and also in T20s in recent past and therefore he expects the team to perform well in the coming T20 and ODI series.
But he was quick to add that the team must now look forward and forget the Test performance to keep their morale high. Pakistan will be playing two T20 matches and a comprehensive five-match ODI series against South Africa, which begins March 1. (ANI)  |
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