India vs Australia: The Last Day

As this thrilling (although far too short) series comes to an end, it is poised perfectly. Ojha and Harbhajan showed just how important it is to have a quality spinner in your side (obviously 2 in their case) as they ran through the Australian batting order yesterday. If it wasn't for Ponting Australia might already have lost this game but the Aussie captain again came up with a sumptuous knock in extremely difficult circumstances; the ball is turning and bouncing, your facing quality spin bowling at both ends, the entire India team is on a high and you have a packed Indian crowd drowning out any thinking going on in your head. To score runs in this situation is very difficult and alas Ponting was the only Australian that managed it, however one must wonder whether the Ponting of old would have converted his 70 odd into a hundred. He has now fallen 3 times in the 70s in this series and for a batsman of his quality you would expect that he would have gone on to make at least one of those a hundred. I think this is the clearest sign yet that this is not the same Ponting that has been terrorising bowling attacks the world over for the last decade. We are yet to see whether he can spark a return to his best form, a la Tendulkar but he has proven he is still the class act among the Australian batsmen.

Strangely enough however, the fact that Australia crumbled to this extent might have been the best thing for them. If they had wickets in hand and could set any total they wanted, they might not have left themselves enough time to bowl India out, now however it is out of their hands and they will most likely have around 2 and a half sessions to get the Indian wickets.

Of course there is always the possibility (and it is a very strong possibility) that Sehwag will come out in the Indian reply and blast a quick hundred and that will be that. But if the Aussies can remove Sehwag early they could put some pressure on India, of course India have a very strong line-up and it will not be easy but it could make for a very good day of Test cricket.

In my opinion the biggest challenge that Australia face is not Sehwag... or Tendulkar, but the fact that they have only Hauritz and part-timers to call on as spin options. I very much doubt the 3 frontline seamers will be able to do the job on their own and as the Indians proved, quality spin bowling will be very tough to face on the last day.

I cannot see for the life of me how Hauritz or the likes of North could run through the Indian batting order the way Ojha and Harbhajan did, which is why I would put a lot of money on India winning this Test match. But you never know...