India relying on Vijay again in Melbourne

Murali Vijay returned to the Indian dressing room unbeaten on 55 when the bails were taken off by the umpires at the Melbourne Cricket Ground this evening. This is Vijay’s 4^th 50 plus score in 5 innings on the Australian tour. Out of the last three fifties, he converted one into hundred. He would want to convert this one too into a three-figure score.

Vijay has been out in the nineties quite often on overseas tours in the last one year. In South Africa, he got a wonderful 97 against the fiery trio of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander. That knock could easily have been a hundred. Then, in England, at Lord’s where India secured a famous win courtesy Ishant Sharma’s spell on the 5^th day, Vijay was caught behind on 95. He had played so well to reach that score and then, a little bit of a misjudgement outside the off stump cost him. In Australia in Adelaide, batting on the final day, he was just one away from his century, but, again luck went against him. A gentle off spinning delivery from Nathan Lyon, which Vijay would knock past square leg for a single 99 out of 100 times, actually hit him on the pad and he was out leg before wicket.

Vijay would not like another score in the nineties to his name, that is for certain. And, it’s important from India’s point of view too that he makes it big tomorrow. Because for the visitors now, winning this game is almost impossible. The best they can do is to save it and for that, they must ensure that they don’t let Australia take a big lead in the first innings. One thing that the Indian team management would be happy about is that on this pitch at MCG, there is not as much of pace and bounce as it was at Gabba.

Raina might play the third test

The Indian team management is supposedly thinking about bringing the left handed batsman Suresh Raina in the playing XI for the Melbourne test match that is starting on the Boxing Day i.e. 26^th of December. Raina is likely to replace Rohit Sharma who has had a highest score of 43 in the 4 innings that he has played in this Border-Gavaskar series. It’s not only these failures; Rohit has actually had failures on every overseas tour that India has been on in the last one year. Whether it is South Africa, New Zealand, England or Australia, Rohit just hasn’t looked good enough to be a good test batsman overseas.

However, Raina doesn’t make a much stronger case either. He might be very good in One Day Cricket, but, he hasn’t had a good track record at all playing test cricket overseas. He is still vulnerable against the short balls. Yes, while facing softer old white ball on slower pitches in ODIs, he has executed the pull and hook shots alright, but, when he would be up against Johnson and the other Aussie fast bowlers facing red cherry on fresher pitches, he would need to be spot on with his back and across movement.

If the videos of Raina’s batting are watched closely, you would find out that quite often he waits for the short balls as he knows that the bowlers like banging it short against him because of his weakness against that kind of bowling in the past. So, he waits back. In One Day Cricket, that technique is okay because generally the ball doesn’t come that fast off the pitch, but, in tests matches, it would come through very fast and thus, he would be in trouble if he plays that way. He would not be able to premeditate in that format.

Let’s see how Raina goes if he finds himself in the Indian XI at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Varun Aaron- India’s first genuine speedster

Varun Aaron has bowled with extreme pace in both the test matches on the Australia tour so far, but, the wickets have not come in clusters for him as they should have come. The reason is his lack of consistency with the line. In his attempt to try and bowl as quick as possible, he loses his direction a bit too often and gets tickled away. But, what’s good is that India is looking to stick with him. Such bowlers, who have raw pace, need the confidence of the captain and the coach. They must be encouraged to try and keep bowling with the same speed and it seems Varun is getting that sort of encouragement from the team management.

In the Brisbane test match, Varun was given the field for bodyline bowling. He came around the wicket and bombarded the Aussie batsmen especially the lower order with his 95-miles-an-hour bouncers. He gave away runs bowling that way. Still, MS Dhoni kept him on and that was an acknowledgement of the fact that the Indian captain considers Varun as someone who can terrify the batsmen. He can get the batsmen out by getting them afraid of being hit.

And, Varun himself has also not looked to cut down his pace at any point of time in this series. Even when he has gone for boundaries, he has continued bowling quick which is a sign that he is temperamentally strong enough and he can be turned into a great product for India with a bit of guidance. He should probably be taken to the World Cup too. Yes, he always makes the captain hesitate a little bit to pick him because he can concede plenty on an off day, but, he can win matches too if he is running in well. So, he is a risk that is worth taking.

Dhoni scored 33 on comeback

MS Dhoni played a cameo of 30 odd on the second day of the Brisbane test match and guided India to the score of over 400. It was his first game for India in more than 4 weeks and he showed no signs of being out of nick. He hit boundaries through covers and also straight down the round with the trademark short back-lift of his. The Indian captain, surprisingly, pulled out reverse sweep too on one occasion. However, he would think that he, perhaps, got out at an inappropriate time for his team.

The ball moved a bit in the morning today and Australia had the new ball which they had taken last evening. They only had to find the right channel which they did.  The two overnight Indian batsmen nicked off early, but, Dhoni came and counter attacked and threatened to take away the game. The wicketkeeper batsman was courageous enough to walk towards the bowlers bowling 90 miles per hour. He took a couple of short pitched ball on his body too. Despite that, his approach was the same. The way he went down the pitch to slam Mitchell Starc straight, it was outrageous.

Against the spinners too, Dhoni was confident. Although, he did not get to face that much of spin, but, whatever little he faced, he looked good. Nathan Lyon, the off spinner, bowled around the wicket with three fielders back on the boundary. His attempt was to buy the wicket there, but, Dhoni was too smart to fall in his trap. He reverse swept the ball in the open spaces on the off side to get a four.

The 33-year old was in for another half century, but, unfortunately, he was dismissed while trying to leave one alone. The ball jagged back ever so slightly and before he could take his bat out of the away, the ball kissed the inside edge and the catch was held behind the wickets.

MS Dhoni back, Ashwin might play too

The Indian captain MS Dhoni is back in the thick of things. He will be leading his side in the Brisbane test match that is starting tomorrow. He attended the press conference earlier today and confirmed that he would replace Wriddhiman Saha in the Indian playing XI. Dhoni also dropped hints that his CSK mate and the off spinning all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin would get another game in whites. Ashwin had played the last couple of matches on the England tour and although he had not done much with the ball, he had batted superbly lower down the order and Dhoni talked about the significance of having a handy bat at 8. So, it is being assumed that Karn Sharma might have to leave his place for Ashwin.

Karn would consider himself unlucky if he is dropped. The leg spinner did not have the best of conditions to bowl there in Adelaide. India lost the toss and he had to bowl on the first day pitch which was a belter. The ball was coming at an easy pace and the bounce was also just perfect for the Aussies to play their shots. Then, in the second innings, there were roughs on the wicket, but, they were in the awkward areas for Karn and of course, the Australian players, David Warner in particular, with their use of feet made life tough for him.

The first test match is not easy for any player. There is always some nervous energy in there. Everyone deserves at least a couple of chances, if not more, to prove himself, but, in this case, MS Dhoni is clearly in a mood to drift towards his favourite spinner which is Ashwin. However, if Ashwin doesn’t go well in Brisbane, then, Karn’s name will again pop up for the reckoning in Melbourne.