When you step into the ring with the reigning champ, you need to hit them on the chin in the first minute.
Not to knock them out, they are the champ, so they can usually take a punch. No you need to hit them on the button, so you know you can hit them on the button.
India came out of the blocks swinging, Australia danced around the ring looking a little rusty.
India not only couldn’t land a hit on the button, they couldn’t land a blow at all.
Khan bowled some great nuts, RP got the ball to sing. But no wickets. They did both bowl a little short.
This is not a good sign, this wicket was hard to bat on. The ball was singing, the batsmen were unsure. And yet the aussies smashed India to all parts of the ground.
India had no luck, edges, scoops and even a run out opportunity that all went against them.
Kumble is already annoying me. I can live without the moustache, but I could also live without a field change every second ball. When Tony Greig notices it, you know it’s obvious.
One of those moves was odd and cost him a wicket, when he took out a 3rd slip and put in a second gully, only for the ball to be edged into where 3rd slips throat would have been.
Why would you only have 4 men in the cordon on a pitch like this, with two quicks beating the bat?
He did make one good decision when he brought on Ganguly, my thoughts on medium pacers at the G are well known. Unfortunately for Kumble, Ganguly didn’t bowl great, and Hayden knows that you can’t let medium pacers dictate on the G.
Ganguly will be important on this pitch, but he needs to bowl a lot fuller.
The G has tennis ball bounce, so short balls are the easiest to handle. All 3 medium pacers were a bit short, especially when the ball was dancing, which is why they beat the bat and not got edges. I said before the series that India would struggle to take 20 wickets. If Khan and RP both bowled really good and the score is still 0/111.
Ganguly made the G crowd happy by somehow rolling over a simple out field ball, making himself look like a prize goose. More so than usual.
Jacques & Hayden both looked horrible early, especially Jacques, but once they woke up, they gave the Indians a serious depantsing.
Bad news for India, Jacques usually goes out on milestones, so get ready at 100, 150 and 200, that may be your only chance.
Oh and why did Harbhajan dart them, it seemed to defy logic and Kumble (who did bowl well)obliged but putting 3 men on the boundary.www.cricketwithballs.com "the hooking & pulling specialists"
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