Monday, October 13, 2008

India's survival against Oz

I feel India should have won the first test against the Aussies. Chasing 299 was not a hectic task. But with the fall of Sehwag early, it became pretty difficult. Somehow India managed to save the match. As Zaheer and Ponting started the war of words, it proves both the team were defensive in their game. But looking at the positives of India, I am pretty happy with India's performance. Remember in India's first innings India was lagging behind before the tailenders like Bhajji and Zaheer salvaged some pride. This was a good achievement as the world champion could not clear the Indian tail even though their bowling was pretty inexperienced. Also, if you see Australia's record in the recent past, you will find most of the time they had won their first test. In this way, it has been a good achievement by India. Not to forget the fact, Zaheer and Ishant bowled beautifully.
But there are still some grey areas which India has to improve. From the Sri Lankan series, Anil Kumble's performance has been deterioting. He went completely wicketless in a test match for the first time in India in his career. He must lead from the front in order to provide tough competetion to the Oz.
So overall it was a satifactory match for India.