Totally Outclassed!!!

Well.. what am i doing.. If a week back you had asked what my plans were on 30th morning I would have said "Final Days play of Boxing day test" .. but it has eventually been ruled out.. the test ended in 4 days!!Aussies proved superior in all departments of the game!Atleast the score card suggests so. To me however it seemed that Indians did put up a decent fight.There were few key areas where Aussies proved way ahead of Indians.



"Running between the Wickets"..



Whenever pressure got mounted they eased things out by quick singles and rotating strike regularly.This is something that Indians need to work on. Rotation of strike!. It not only keeps the scoreboard moving but also unsettles the bowler. For every batsman the bowler needs to plan and when strike keeps rotating its difficult for the bowler to plan a wicket. For example Dravid's dismissal in both the innings were well planned. The reason Dravid went into his own shell and kept the strike, the bowler could plan and pace his wicket!! For a classy player who is nearing his 10k mark this is not something that speaks good of.



However on the whole the running needs to improve. Indian batsmen need to learn a lesson or two from their aussie counterparts.



Aussie openers have been one of their strengths. Had India made early inroads things would have been closer( Different?? I doubt). One of the major reasons for India's good show last time down under was the openers. Sehwag was going through form of his life and Akash chopra played a perfect second fiddle to see the new ball off. But here the Indian openers seem to be clueless and (whats worrying is) that too against a little second line aussie attack.



Sachin and Sourav's form is heartening to watch!Sachin showed his class and to me easily was the best innings of the match though didn't convert it into a big one.Laxman showed promise but needs to capitalize on the starts.



Indian bowling looks good.They did a great job of taking 17 wickets.Jumbo came up with yet another "five for" but yeah it didnt make a difference to the match's consequence!



Getting Ponting out twice, cheaply was a commendable effort. But as a cricket fan its disappointing to see such a great great player going out cheaply but as a Indian cricket fan I loved it!!!



Hayden's knock in first innings and Clarkes knock in second innings was good to watch.Jaques played decent knocks in both the innings.



There is some serious work ahead for Jumbo and boys. They need to pull up their socks a little faster.