The Indian selectors meet on Thursday to pick the team for the third and fourth Tests in Mohali and Delhi respectively. It's a given that the pitch in Mohali won't be as dusty as Chennai and Hyderabad and the question to be asked is, will the selectors make changes to a team that's winning or will they play it safe, says a report in The Times Of India.
Questioning Virender Sehwag’s place in the team, the report says that Sehwag has carried his poor form from the England series - barring the 100 in the first Test in Ahmedabad - to the contest against the Aussies, and questions are rightly being asked about his place in the side.
“There is a theory doing the rounds that he is not too comfortable playing with spectacles on. With India scheduled to play next in bowling-friendly conditions of South Africa later this year, and Sehwag's game on the wane, it remains to be seen if the selectors will take the cue and groom a youngster to partner Vijay in the last two Tests against the Aussies, or give the Delhi dasher a final lifeline. They could even dangle the bait of a middle-order spot at him as suggested by the legendary Rahul Dravid, but that will mean playing a bowler less,” says the report.
After briefly conceding ground at home against England last year, India have come back strongly with two victories against Australia in as many Tests of the ongoing series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, says a report in Deccan Herald, adding that at the risk of sounding pessimistic, one has to say that the series still needs to be won and the deep wounds suffered over the last one and half years — when they endured two 4-0 whitewashes in England and Australia and a 1-2 loss at home to the Englishmen — are yet to be healed completely. But India finally appear to be picking themselves up.
“Normally, every home victory is received with a tinge of cynicism but it’s more so in India. A spinner has to take wickets in Australia or England or South Africa to prove his worth. A batsman has to pile on runs on the bouncy wickets and seaming conditions and not just on turning tracks. And the team has to win away from home to earn respect. Agreed, to be considered a great bowler or a batsman or even a team, one has to deliver goods in hostile conditions but that benchmark shouldn’t undermine every victory, each five-wicket haul or each century at home,” says the report, adding that we have created such a mindset that even the players feel incomplete unless they succeed overseas where conditions aren’t exactly friendly.
“I think he watches too much of channels because that’s what really happens,” reasoned MS Dhoni in a lighter note when pointed out that Cheteshwar Pujara, in an interview, had said he would be happy only if he proves himself away from home. “I always say you need to be in the present,” he continued on a more serious note.
“Of course he has set his own standards but what is important is to enjoy what you have done. What he has done or what anyone has done. No point in saying ‘you have done well in India now go out and do it and we will judge you as a batsman.’
A column in Deccan Chronicle says that this is the weakest Australian batting line-up ever to have visited India. It should surprise no one then if Team India wins 4-0. On the contrary, it might shock us if Dhoni's men do not complete the Oz wash.
“In 1979-80, at a time when the Packer imbroglio was just being resolved, India hosted a second string Australian team. That outfit had Kim Hughes, Allan Border, Graham Yallop and many others who could bat. It was no mean task beating that team 2-0 in a 6-Test series. This team led by Michael Clarke is so weak in batting that it should be rolled over pretty easily,” says the column, adding that Team India and its skipper, now the country's most successful with 22 Test wins, basks in the aftermath of the Hyderabad win that was a touch too facile on another expertly underprepared pitch that had probably seen no water during its preparation in a poor monsoon year.
“The cricketing drought is now Australia's burden on the field. Felled by England just about three months ago, Team India have recovered splendidly and enjoying options that were not noticeable then. Cheteshwar Pujara has confirmed his Dravid-like love for occupation of the Test crease and Murali Viay has shown that he can take a hundred off an Australian attack by batting like a proper Test opener rather than a T20 slogger,” says the column, adding that Ravindra Jadeja may not have proved himself yet as a Test all-rounder but he has the makings of one. “His round-armed orthodox spin has its value on turning pitches, particularly when they are wearing. His ball to bowl Clarke was the best by a spinner in the series.”