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Board President's XI v Australians, Chennai, 1st day
Australians stumble against spin on opening day
ESPNcricinfo staff
February 12, 2013
Australians 241 (Cowan 58, Rasool 7-45) v Indian Board President's XI
Scorecard
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Report : Moises Henriques, Nathan Lyon fire in draw
News : Wade to captain Australians in tour-opener Players/Officials:
Parvez Rasool
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Australia tour of India
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The Australians lost nine wickets to spin on the first day of their opening tour game in Chennai, but though they were dismissed for 241 their opener and top-scorer Ed Cowan said the team was satisfied with the workout. Jammu & Kashmir offspinner Parvez Rasool, who turns 24 tomorrow, took 7 for 45 for the Board President's XI on a pitch that offered the slow bowlers assistance.
Wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, the Australians' acting captain, had spoken about the importance of batting long in order to adapt to the local conditions, and everyone got the chance to have time in the middle after he won the toss.
Only 11 of the 17-member squad had arrived in India and so Usman Khawaja opened with Cowan, adding 77 for the first wicket before he was caught behind off legspinner Sarabjit Ladda. Cowan was the next to fall, caught behind to become the first of Rasool's seven wickets. Wade and Steven Smith added 58 for the third wicket but Wade's dismissal triggered a slide during which the Australians lost eight wickets for 74 runs.
"It was a pretty good day. Everyone had a good hit at the top of the order," Cowan said after the day's play. "The wicket was turning, so it was good practice against some really talented spin bowlers. The wicket was a bit two-paced. The ball reversed pretty quickly. So it was hard to score but it is a small ground, so a decent score for a first hit out.
"It's easy to call it a practice game, but it is more than that for a lot of us - to come over early, to get the conditions, to get our plans in place against the spinners. It was nice to spend some time in the middle but at the end of the day it's about scoring some runs, so it was nice to get a few runs as well."
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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Apparently Steve Smith looked the best of all the batsmen. He might surprise a few people on this tour. He's quick on his feet and I believe he's a good player of spin. He's also played in India quite a bit. Wouldn't be surprised to see him in the test team, which was unthinkable a couple of weeks ago. Horses for courses. He might be a good bet for Indian conditions. That's probably why he was chosen in the team, something nobody seems to have commented on in the media. Not sure stacking the team with bowlers and allrounders is great in terms of the game, but they are just trying to give everyone a run. Only one guy can bowl at a time, so it doesn't really help much in terms of winning, I wouldn't think.
History says that in India vs Australia contests, India rely on spin (though their medium pacers sometimes do well too) and Australia rely on pace. Australia would be well advised to go for all pace in the test matches as Australian spinners have done particularly poorly in India compared to pacers in the past 30 years or so - including Shane Warne. While in the successful 2004/05 series, Warne was a good contributor, he was still only the 4th best of the bowlers - pace has always been the key to success in India. Australia have some outstanding pace bowlers with good records in India - Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson especially, but Pattinson and Bird also should do well. Siddle has a terrible record in India and should be left out of the side. As should all of the spinners.
Australians - you need not worry about your bowling. Our selectors already gave you 2 free wickets in the form of Sehwag and Tendulkar. You have to worry about only Pujara and Dhoni. Kohli might show up in the last match, if he can stop dreaming about captaincy. Our bowling is not that good either - we have a clueless Ishant, a high jumper called Dinda, and variations man Ashwin. If your batsmen can navigate the initial overs of Bhuvi and counter the simple spin of Ojha, they can bat to their hearts content.
Posted by Al_Bundy1 on (February 13, 2013, 19:06 GMT)Indian Selectors need to do their job and select players who are performing now, not players like Bhajji, Tendulkar, Sehwag and Ishant, who were good 5 years ago. Parvez Rasool deserves to be in the Indian squad against Australia. Similarly youngsters like Ishwar Pandey, Sid Kaul, Sandeep Sharma, Warrior, Reddy, Nadeem, etc. deserve more games in India A squad.
Posted by Al_Bundy1 on (February 13, 2013, 13:52 GMT)Agree with @Lamp - Ambati Rayudu has been pretty consistent for quite some time now. This guy is really good against fast bowling. He will be ideal for India at No. 6. Add to his batting skills, he can also act as a back-up wicket-keeper. Parvez Rasool and Rayudu should be part of the Indian squad after first 2 tests.
Posted byA taste of things to come. The "quick" bowlers have no penetration and the bog average spinners have to prey on batsmen with no patience. The full Indian test side will have a cake walk with this Aussie team, the worst to tour India since 1979.
Posted by Shaggy076 on (February 13, 2013, 11:45 GMT)Michael_Sheridan if you read my comments I state that Khawaja is not a bowling option. I make no mention that Lewis said only Khawaja can bowl. I am not disputing the Clarke, Warner as bowlers so I am not commenting on that. I understood his point maybe I have to be clearer to you my point is that Khawaja is not a bowling option. Do you understand? Dont have a go at me for not reading comments. Try and understand what someone is posting before having a go at them.
Posted by Shaggy076 on (February 13, 2013, 11:22 GMT)Michael_Sheridan; I know what his point was but he just wanted to bang Khawaja name in there. Like yourself you cannot write a post without mentioning Khawaja. His point would have been better at Clarke and Warner putting Khawaja in there makes it think we are desperate for bowlers. As for Quiney least he has bowled over 100 overs at first class cricket so you know he can help out with the ball if needed.
Posted by Jayzuz on (February 13, 2013, 11:01 GMT)@Ozcricketwriter, not sure about Pattinson on slow, low tracks. Every time I've seen him bowl on such decks he is very ordinary. Just tries to bang it in, and it doesn't work. Hope I'm wrong.
Posted by Jayzuz on (February 13, 2013, 10:58 GMT)I'm assuming the pitch was dead slow, which is why Henriques got 4 wickets at about a run an over. Anyway, everyone got a run, which was the main idea. These kind of games can be embarrassing if the touring side clocks up a low score, then the locals dig in and get about 5-500. Kind of like the saffas vs AUS A: and for the first two tests.