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[pipsqueak]

MCG shock in store for Indians

By Ken Piesse
December 16, 2007 INDIA'S old masters - Sachin Tendulkar and company - are the targets as Ricky Ponting's Australians go for a world mark of consecutive Test wins.

The heavy hitters Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman and Sourav Ganguly have remarkable records but are past their best, especially on Australian wickets where the bouncy conditions unsettle and intimidate.

Melbourne, venue for next week's Boxing Day Test, is likely to have the initial pace, which will immediately challenge the reflexes and nerve.

Head curator Tony Ware says the early MCG wickets this summer may have been more sluggish than many had hoped but the extra time in preparation for this one should lead to one of the best wickets of the season.

"Everyone got excited about the pace at the WACA the other night," Ware said.

"We won't and never will have anything like that here, but we will be trying to produce the best possible wicket which holds together into the business end of the Test."

The Australians are considering taking four pacemen into the first Test, including "wild thing" Shaun Tait, for the first time on Australian soil.

Win in Melbourne and the Aussies are eyeing a record-equalling 16th Test win in a row, emulating the feats of Steve Waugh's Australians in 1999-2000 and 2000-01.

India's previous coach, Australian legend Greg Chappell, says the Indians may be flat-track bullies on the low and slow pitches of the subcontinent, but they are vulnerable Down Under.

"Their ability to counter the extra bounce will be critical," Chappell said.

"It has undermined almost every challenge here and it's a major factor in why their record is so poor here."

Chappell says the frequency of consistent performances from the ageing quartet has also narrowed.

"They've played a lot of cricket," he said.

"Ganguly is 35, Sachin and Rahul Dravid are almost 35 and Laxman is 33.

"They are batting differently than they did in their prime years."

Chappell says the recent run-fests on home wickets can all but be discounted given the bounce and seam on Australian pitches.

Tendulkar and Laxman, scorers of some of the great recent centuries against the Australians, also are not playing with their former freedom.

"They've both been trying to play risk-free cricket and trying not to get out, rather than playing how they used to," Chappell said.

The Sunday Mail (Qld)

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,22929702-23212,00.html

[gouravk]

this could work to our advantage. if it is indeed an assisting wicket zaheer and rps and ishant can exploit it and set australia on the backfoot. we just need zaheer and rp to be fit quickly.

[inoc]

welcome back after the recent hiatus pipsqueak

[pipsqueak]

welcome back after the recent hiatus pipsqueak

thanks, inoc just been busy winding up things before i head off on vacation and cdn't afford to be dragged into the DG!

[inoc]

welcome back after the recent hiatus pipsqueak

thanks, inoc just been busy winding up things before i head off on vacation and cdn't afford to be drawled into the DG!

where are you you off to? not somewhere i can drop in is it? have a good holiday pips.

[pipsqueak]

where are you you off to? not somewhere i can drop in is it? have a good holiday pips.

to madras, nalla madras.....  yaaaaaaaay!

of course, you may drop in here, there, every where 

thank you for your wishes - i intend to eat, eat and oh, eat carb-rich, ghee-rich, sugar-rich, unhealthy, greasy food!

[inoc]

where are you you off to? not somewhere i can drop in is it? have a good holiday pips.

to madras, nalla madras.....  yaaaaaaaay!

of course, you may drop in here, there, every where 

thank you for your wishes - i intend to eat, eat and oh, eat carb-rich, ghee-rich, sugar-rich, unhealthy, greasy food!

dont be a drama queen you can only add that much butter to a dosa and none to the blooming idli so shut the f up. no i cant join you this time but we will one day.

[pipsqueak]

where are you you off to? not somewhere i can drop in is it? have a good holiday pips.

to madras, nalla madras.....  yaaaaaaaay!

of course, you may drop in here, there, every where 

thank you for your wishes - i intend to eat, eat and oh, eat carb-rich, ghee-rich, sugar-rich, unhealthy, greasy food!

dont be a drama queen you can only add that much butter to a dosa and none to the blooming idli so shut the f up. no i cant join you this time but we will one day.

got to maintain my reputation!

hah, nothing to idli? have you not tasted the famous gun powder from south? we smear the idli with this doused with a more than generous portion of oil..


sure, we will meet for dosai and kapi. btw, how was the Eden experience with your son? no reports?

[inoc]

pips

surely you dont need to oil up the idlis - it will taste uggh. i dont have the grinder (electric) but authetic idlis i can produce.

kapi to start and end with i can ensure.

had a great day at the eden gardens with my son. had two tickets for the club house but chose to sit in the stands with my family. flag/caps and all had the day of our lives on saturday, jet lag notwithstading we cheered every ball on the second day of the match. saw two hundreds to cheer for doesnt happen everyday.  brought back the india tricolour home to have a proud position in my study (didnt win the argument with my wife to have it above the fireplace - never thought i would win the argument anyway).

my son now says 'jeetega bhai jeetega india jeetega, he was upset that gang(as in a gang, pronunciation wise)uly scored only a hundred but is now happy that that he has scored a double century just like jaffer.

come over here kapi on the house

[pipsqueak]

pips

surely you dont need to oil up the idlis - it will taste uggh. i dont have the grinder (electric) but authetic idlis i can produce.

kapi to start and end with i can ensure.

well, idli w sambhar and chutney is just one way of eating idlis. we also use this spicy powder made from various dal, sesame etc. and this is mixed with oil and idli/dosai is dipped in it and eaten. also, when people travel, idlis are often taken, smeared with this spicy paste and eaten as a tiffin/snack/meal - often done during those long train journeys that sadly seem to have become a thing of past.

this is my preferred way of eating idli/dosai. how can one make idlis without a grinder?  surely, you don't mean Gits/MTR and other junk like that!

had a great day at the eden gardens with my son. had two tickets for the club house but chose to sit in the stands with my family. flag/caps and all had the day of our lives on saturday, jet lag notwithstading we cheered every ball on the second day of the match. saw two hundreds to cheer for doesnt happen everyday.  brought back the india tricolour home to have a proud position in my study (didnt win the argument with my wife to have it above the fireplace - never thought i would win the argument anyway).

my son now says 'jeetega bhai jeetega india jeetega, he was upset that gang(as in a gang, pronunciation wise)uly scored only a hundred but is now happy that that he has scored a double century just like jaffer.

come over here kapi on the house

awesome - eden seems to have a grand atmosphere. why doesn't your wife approve of the flag over the fireplace? why not?

ps : hope the mods don't turn up their snooty noses at food talk/banter. show us some christmas spirit, will ya!

[kban1]

well, idli w sambhar and chutney is just one way of eating idlis. we also use this spicy powder made from various dal, sesame etc. and this is mixed with oil and idli/dosai is dipped in it and eaten. also, when people travel, idlis are often taken, smeared with this spicy paste and eaten as a tiffin/snack/meal - often done during those long train journeys that sadly seem to have become a thing of past.

Unfortunately, the only way you can eat this type of idli is eating in a South Indian house. Public fare in restaurants usually go the sambar route. personally I prefer the sambar route but have to admit that I liked the oil & powder routine as well.

Alas, that has been missing since I became parochial, stopped dating Southie dames, and married a Bengali 

[CLR James]

well, idli w sambhar and chutney is just one way of eating idlis. we also use this spicy powder made from various dal, sesame etc. and this is mixed with oil and idli/dosai is dipped in it and eaten. also, when people travel, idlis are often taken, smeared with this spicy paste and eaten as a tiffin/snack/meal - often done during those long train journeys that sadly seem to have become a thing of past.

Unfortunately, the only way you can eat this type of idli is eating in a South Indian house. Public fare in restaurants usually go the sambar route. personally I prefer the sambar route but have to admit that I liked the oil & powder routine as well.

Alas, that has been missing since I became parochial, stopped dating Southie dames, and married a Bengali 

Remain parochial and married. Do not entertain such dangerous thoughts kban. Remember, an idli mind is a devil's workshop.

[Libran]

where are you you off to? not somewhere i can drop in is it? have a good holiday pips.

to madras, nalla madras.....  yaaaaaaaay!

of course, you may drop in here, there, every where 

thank you for your wishes - i intend to eat, eat and oh, eat carb-rich, ghee-rich, sugar-rich, unhealthy, greasy food!

Return flights post christmas run full and airlines decry any sort of excess baggage ....careful

[kban1]

Remain parochial and married. Do not entertain such dangerous thoughts kban. Remember, an idli mind is a devil's workshop.

Hey, I was just talking about idlis in S Indian households, who is talking about the devil's workshop ?

Not that there is anything wrong in it. 

[justforkix]

this could work to our advantage. if it is indeed an assisting wicket zaheer and rps and ishant can exploit it and set australia on the backfoot. we just need zaheer and rp to be fit quickly.

I think wicket will only be hard and bouncy and not grassy !! - I think Aussies do their homework on opposition batters/bowlers.

[gouravk]

well they were clearly taken by surprise last time when zaheer and agarkar set them on the backfoot in brisbane !!!

[justforkix]

well they were clearly taken by surprise last time when zaheer and agarkar set them on the backfoot in brisbane !!!

Yup. IMO, Aussies did expect us to roll-over after our 3-0 drubbing during the previous tour. What most teams have not realized is that our bowlers swing the ball better and their batters are more inept at playing the moving ball than us. What we suck at is in negotiating nad handling bounce.

[Blwe_torch]

Hey....nice cootchie-cooing session!  
Dosai, sambar, idli with some kapi to go with, happens to be one my favorites............so, may I join in folks?

[gouravk]

so that CAN happen again no ? zaheer and rps have the ability to run through australia and set them back i think.

[justforkix]

so that CAN happen again no ? zaheer and rps have the ability to run through australia and set them back i think.

I would be surprised if they did on a purely hard and bouncy track. Their main weapons are seam/swing.

[manee]

so that CAN happen again no ? zaheer and rps have the ability to run through australia and set them back i think.

I would be surprised if they did on a purely hard and bouncy track. Their main weapons are seam/swing.

Don't be fooled by the speed gun, Zaheer's bouncers are very sharp indeed (due to his strength) and I have seen more than half a dozen batsmen shocked by RP Singh's short ball too. Prasad also noted that fast tracks encourage fast bowlers to bowl faster and this will hopefully be the case for the two aforementioned and Ishant Sharma who I can imagine being a handful on Australian tracks if he gets a consistent line and length.

[gouravk]

I agree. This is why it is important to have Ishant in the squad at the expense of Irfan. He can get the bounce and he can be a great foil. But important thing is Zaheer has to lead. Just like he did in England. If Zaheer fails everything else will just fall off.

[Libran]

If the speed gun readings during the Aussie ODI are anything to go by, RPS will be a handful

[keep-it-cool]

I dont think the Aussies will be scared of speed.

It is not at all about whether Indian quicks will be better on those pitches than they are on Indian pitches. It all boils down to the batting's ability to play out the bowlers. Aussie batsmen are better equipped than our batsmen to play on hard, bouncy tracks.

[broadbat]

The Indian batting will have to be positive. Grafting rarely works because the bowlers will remain on top throughout and will get you sooner than later. Hence strokeplay is the order fo the day and no half measures. Slash rather than prod. If you watched Lou Vincent's dismissal yesterday at Sydney you will get the picture.

[gouravk]

Oh yes, that is the next thing I was going to come to. Set them back by bowling them out with a good spell first up and then bat positively to take a lead. In short repeat Gabba 2003.