Australian skipper Michael Clarke arrived in 'City Beautiful' on Saturday, to join his teammates as the side gears up for the upcoming Test match against India, says a report in The Times Of India, adding that his wife Kyly Boldy accompanied Clarke, as the two had enjoyed an off day in Agra visiting the Taj Mahal.
“The rest of the Australian team had come on Thursday and are taking some time off from cricket. The team management informed that players would start practicing from Sunday and there will be a full practice session from 10 AM onwards,” says the report, adding that Australia's chief coach Mickey Arthur had earlier said that the players will be given a couple of days off which will help them to not only 'reflect on their game' but also refresh them for the upcoming challenges in the next two Test matches in Mohali and Delhi.
“At the airport, Clarke promised that the Aussies would give a tough fight to the Indian team in the remaining two test matches at Mohali and Delhi,” adds the TOI report.
According to a report in The Indian Express, much was expected from the spearhead of Australia's pace battery, Peter Siddle, on this tour. “But following two harrowing Test matches in Chennai and Hyderabad, where India ensured that they couldn't lose the four match series, it will be fair to say that Siddle has found the going a bit harder than expected here in India. According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, Siddle too feels that he has been 'lacking' on the tour,” says the report.
"Personally, the consistency hasn't quite been there," said Siddle. "So you're not building that pressure and the batsmen aren't feeling like they're struggling to score. I've definitely been lacking there."
The 28-year old, who has taken 143 wickets in his 39-Test career at an average of 29.25, said that building pressure has been one of his greatest strengths for Australia in the past — at home and away. "In Australia in other series in the past I've been able to do that, which has helped the team," Siddle said. "It just comes down to being able to build that pressure for long periods of time."
Meanwhile former Indian skipper Dilip Vengsarkar has suggested Michael Clarke's side is the worst Australia team ever to tour India. And the results so far, of losses by eight wickets and by an innings and 135 runs add weight to the theory from Vengsarkar, who is also a former Indian chairman of selectors.
Vengsarkar says Clarke - who unlike every other batsman in the touring team's top six is making a strong contribution - is the only person who seems to be trying his best.
"Going by the way the Aussies folded on the fourth morning at Hyderabad (all out for 131 in their second innings in the second Test on Tuesday), one is tempted to ask whether this is the worst ever Australian team that has toured India so far," Vengsarkar wrote in his column in The Times of India on Saturday.
