Blunder Down Under

BLUNDER DOWN UNDER

The Sydney test will be remembered for all wrong reasons. India lost the match not just because of some stupid umpiring but also because of some inept batting displays. The Sydney test shaped up to a near perfect test match with both sides on top for sometime consistently throughout the 5 days. Kumble's face showed it all in the post match conference. The Indians were a dull faced side with a lot of anger. But, everything is history now.

India will have to face the reality now. They cant shy away from the real test now. It is the test of character at Perth and Adelaide. No Australian team has lost consecutive test matches at home since 1978. If India will have to level the series, they will have to do this improbable act of defeating Australia two times continuously in a test series. India have got some justice in between the test matches. The ICC have accepted their plea to remove Steve Bucknor for the Perth test. Harbhajan's ban is also held up for the time being. With just 3 days to go for the Perth test, India will have to pull their socks up very quickly.

It is the last time that the famous five will fight out for glory in the Australian soil. If India loses this test match, then Kumble & co. will not get another shot at Aussies in Australia. This should be the motivation for the veterans to perform even better than they have performed in the last 2 tests. Only these players have performed in the tests at Melbourne and Sydney. The youngsters have really been well below par. Jaffer has been completely out of sorts against Brett Lee with the new ball in hand. His 92 against ACT Invitational XI would have got him some confidence back, but I would back Virender Sehwag to play in the Perth test. Sehwag raced away to 113 off mere 78 balls in the practice game. Sehwag does not actually perform well in the 2nd innings in a test match. His 113 would have got some relief for Kumble's headache. Sehwag averages a phenomenal 70 in the first innings and 20 in the second innings, in his whole career till date.

Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are next in the line for proving to be the nemesis for Anil Kumble. Yuvraj's hapless batting display in the 6 innings in Australia will definitely make way for either Dinesh Karthik or Irfan Pathan. Pathan seems to be the more likely option as he can definitely open the bowling attack with RP Singh. Dhoni's case is different. Although, Dhoni has been close to perfect behind the stumps, his batting has not been attractive at all. His batting display in the 2nd innings of the Sydney test has got him more criticisms than appreciations. He will have to perform tremendously with the bat and more importantly should support the in form batsmen now. Perth will be the biggest test for Dhoni in his test career.

Gary Kirsten's presence in Perth will definitely help Kumble and the support staff to regain some confidence and the killer instinct for the Perth test match. India should bowl first, if they win the toss. Indians have the firepower to rattle the Aussies, if they find some tinge of green on the turf that promises to offer a lot of bounce for the pacemen.

A test win in Perth will be a big slap on the face of Ponting and his ego would be thrashed if India does win.

This is the perfect combination to go for the Perth test according to me.

1. Virender Sehwag
2. Rahul Dravid
3. VVS Laxman
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Sourav Ganguly
6. MS Dhoni
7. Irfan Pathan
8. Anil Kumble
9. Harbhajan Singh
10. RP Singh
11. Ishant Sharma

12. Dinesh Karthik

The batting order cannot be chip-chopped in the middle of the series now. Dravid looks steady and settled now as an opener. Laxman relishes his no.3 position in Australia. Tendulkar and Ganguly are performing well. It is upto players on the top and after these stars to play well and perform well as a batting unit first. The bowling unit will be a force to reckon with. Kumble is just short of 600 wickets and Perth should be the place to get his 600th scalp.

Waiting for the Perth test to kick off !!!!