India v Australia, Third Test, Chandigarh

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1st Test
Fri Feb 22 - Tue Feb 26
04:00 GMT | 09:30 local
12:00 WST | 14:30 CST | 15:00 EST
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

2nd Test
Sat Mar 2 - Wed Mar 6
04:00 GMT | 09:30 local
12:00 WST | 14:30 CST | 15:00 EST
Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad

3rd Test
Thu Mar 14 - Mon Mar 18
04:00 GMT | 09:30 local
12:00 WST | 14:30 CST | 15:00 EST
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

4th Test
Fri Mar 22 - Tue Mar 26
04:00 GMT | 09:30 local
12:00 WST | 14:30 CST | 15:00 EST
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi


India:
Shikhar Dhawan, Murli Vijay, Virender Sehwag, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, M S Dhoni (c),
Rabindra Jadeja, Bhubhneshwar Kumar, Ravi Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Ashoke Dinda

Australia:
Michael Clarke (c), Ed Cowan, David Warner, Phillip Hughes, Shane Watson, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Matthew Wade, Glenn Maxwell,
Moises Henriques, Nathan Lyon, Xavier Doherty, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Jackson Bird

Surely Henriques has to play now? I'd go with him at 7 plus 3 seamers with only specialist spinner.

Was there a rain delay this morning?

437/6 but no recent updates.

Started late because of a wet outfield , apparently.

Agar came back to take three wickets will that set the newspapers off again ?

Not much for the pace men. Could be a sign for the Tests.

These games are usually irrelevant indicators.... I hope. There's always a bit of 'testing the waters' going on in these preliminary matches and odd selections from both sides. Maybe the pace men held back a little? Very low economy rates but they'll need to improve their strike rates.

We'll have to go the SA approach and try and blast them out as opposed to England's twin spin method. We simply don't have the spin quality against the best Indian bastmen. If it drags on then our pace bowlers could suffer as well. They'll need to maintain shape & accuracy, or else!

Don't think blasting out is possible on some of these pitches , lb

Agree the spinners will struggle to do it alone. I think the key for Australia will be to score BIG , often , and take the bowling chance when it comes.

Just not sure the batting will be capable of doing so ...we will know better in a week or so.

The Australian batsmen weren't all that convincing against spin yet again. All 4 wickets went to the spinners, Rakesh Dhurv and Jalaj Saxena picking up 2 each. A combined 17 overs from them produced 4 for 33.

Watson made a decent case to consider him at the top with a stroke filled 84. I hope the Australian team management and selectors won't think far too much of Agar's late wickets. Perhaps an emerging tallent, give him time to develop, nothing more, nothing less.......

Is that stumps for the day?

131-4 at stumps with Wade and Henriques at the crease.

Seems David Warner is a doubtful starter for the first test. He's not yet back to full fitness, and if he's unavailable, Shane Watson will be opening the innings along with Ed Cowan. Indications are that Glenn Maxwell also stands a very strong chance to debut in the first test. If Warner isn't available, that could be a serious setback to the Australians.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-australia-2013/content/current/story/605245.html

A bit of a blow for us. Do you think Michael Clark will be fit and ready to play? I saw some vision of him running around the oval at training and he didn't look so crash hot. Some of these hamstring injuries take a while to get over.

The reports coming in on Clarke are on the lines of him being pretty much back in frame.
Meanwhile Australians have been bowled out for 235 against India A, with the spinners Rakesh Dhurv taking 5 and Jalaj Saxena taking 4 wickets respectively. Peter Siddle was run out.

Pretty tame innings from us.

I was reading an article on espncricinfo this morning - Tiwary's comments on Australia's lack of ability to play spin - a frightening read!

Interesting response from Watson. I agree with him. They'll have to play assertively but I somehow feel most of our batting looks pretty clueless against top quality spin bowling... let alone an India A spin attack.

Looking at the scorecard - Hughes out stumped for 1 - what did he do? Try and charge down the track and miss it completely? He needs to realise that the ball comes on a lot more slowly. He should have more time to play his shots... in theory & practice. I wonder whether he realises this? Timing and clean execution of stroke-play is the key. Hardly any margin for error. I hope our other guys realise this too!

England couldnt play spin either. Fortunately you arent playing Pakistan.

Can anyone explain to me...Ashton Agar?

Hardly a surprise the Aussie batting struggled when you look at the side they put out. Big plus for them must be Watson showing he hasnt forgotten how to open if required.

He's been sent home now. It was just some expression of good will to a very young player to have some international experience. Madness to even consider him for a Test spot though nothing would surprise me with the selectors these days.

Watson seemed the best of the lot. The rest; pretty much hopeless.

Linebreaker wrote:He's been sent home now. It was just some expression of good will to a very young player to have some international experience. Madness to even consider him for a Test spot though nothing would surprise me with the selectors these days.

Watson seemed the best of the lot. The rest; pretty much hopeless.

Watson got up and running in each innings against the very friendly seam bowling of Gony though LB.

In the Test match, I'd guess India will open with Ojha/Jadeja

I was talking about him in comparison to our other batsmen, Gerry... friendliness aside.

Some good news for Australia supporters, David Warner seems well on the way to recovery.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-australia-2013/content/current/story/605477.html

He still looks in a bit of pain in that photo.
We'll have to wait and see what happens on Friday.

Seems Henriques has made a strong impression on the coach, and might be even a head of Glenn Maxwell for a place in the 11. I am not too sure about the wisdom of such a move, Henriques doesn't look a quality number 7 for me. Could be a good number 8 with the bat, but I am not sure he's anywhere good enough with the ball to be one of 3 seamers, particularly considering the kind of depth and quality Australia have in that department. And the other good news is that the Agar experiment is not continued beyond its logical limit and the lad has flown back home!.

If Australia aren't going for Maxwell and is looking for an all-rounder and not an additional batsman, I think Mitchell Johnson could be a much better bet than Henriques who's not quite good enough with either bat or ball. MJ, despite his inconsistencies, is a a pretty decent bowler, and has sub-continent experience. I don't think he could be all that bad with the bat either, particularly compared with Henriques.

If Warner is fit, then it is confirmed that Shane Watson will be batting at 4 and Michael Clarke at 5 with the opening combination of Ed Cowan and Warner remaining intact.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-australia-2013/content/current/story/605513.html

Good luck to Australia, you're representing what is good about cricket. Put the arrogant Indians in their place just like England did!

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy may not have the historical context of the Ashes or India-Pakistan. But it has been among the significant cricketing contests of the contemporary era, and since 1996 when the trophy was instituted, the 2 sides, instilled with some of their greatest ever cricketers, produced some absolutely high quality cricket over the years.
The first test of the 4 match series in a fresh series is getting underway at the MA Chidambaram Stadium Chennai tomorrow. The 2 sides are going through a stage of transition, Australia doing better in the department of adopting to the changes, particularly in the bowling department, where they have found reserves of depths and quality through some young pace men such as Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson, and with experienced hands like Peter Siddle and Mitchell Johnson to guide them.
Australia have already announced their playing side, and they are playing to their strength, including 3 seamers in Siddle, Starc and Pattinson along with the seam bowling all-rounder Moises Henriques. Nathan Lyon is the only spinner in the side.
India are likely to play at least 3 spinners, and have already announced that Harbhajan Singh will be included. If Ravindra Jadeja is also given a chance, it is likely that Ishant Sharma will be the only seam bowling option and there could be 2 offies and 2 left arm spiners in Ojha and Jadeja. The other option would be to go in with Ajinkya Rahane at number 6.
The opening combination for India is also a matter of interest, and it remains to be seen as to who would partner Virender Sehwag in place of the axed Gautam Gambhir. Shikhar Dhawan has reasonable form going into the match, and the other attraction is that he's a lefty. Murali Vijay is the local boy, he has a decent home record whenever he was given a chance to open in place of Sehwag and Gambhir as replacement, his highest test score (139) came against Australia in 2010.
The pitch is expected to take turn and there may not be much for the quicker bowlers.

Australia have already announced their team:

Australia: 1 David Warner, 2 Ed Cowan, 3 Phillip Hughes, 4 Shane Watson, 5 Michael Clarke (capt), 6 Matthew Wade (wk), 7 Moises Henriques, 8 Peter Siddle, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 James Pattinson, 11 Nathan Lyon

Portuguese-born Henriques makes his debut. It looks like Australia have repeated England's mistake by only picking one spinner.

yup......

Clarke's back dosent hold up well, and Warner has a busted digit, so he probably wont bowl either...

I think the Henriques selection is confused: he has less FC 100s than Mitchell J, so if they wanted 5 bowlers they might as well have picked Mitch and if they wanted the extra batsman they could have picked Khawaja or even Smith.

Perhaps even more surprisingly it sounds like Harbhajan is being recalled. I don't really understand why myself - his domestic performances have been no better than OK. Plus I always think three spinners (perhaps + Jadeja) is OTT.

Henriques is selected based on domestic performances

THIS SEASON

averages 77 with the bat, and 19 with the ball

Don't think Australia's situation in the spin department is similar to that of England. England's 2nd spinner, Monty Panesar is much better than any option that Australia got at this stage, and Swanny of course, along with Saeed Ajmal, is among the best lot of spinners at the moment. Lyon, while being good, is still learning on the job, and Doherty is more of a one-day spinner.
But I too am not too sure of the Henriques selection, doesn't look all that with bat or ball. Maxwell could have been a more logical option, and totally agree with shelsey, Johnson would have fitted the profile of the bowling all-rounder much better than Henriques would do, the latter is more bits part.

Said that, Henriques did make a strong case for himself in the 2 tour games. I was surprised that they chose not to play Maxwell in the 2nd warm up game, and he wasn't given much of a chance with the ball in the other game either.

Henriques does have good stats this year, but they are from a very limited sample size (and still including just the 1 century). From what I've seen of him he is very much the bits-and-pieces type cricketer.

I'm often critical of Mitchell Johnson, but he's had a good season and when in form is both a genuine wicket-taker and a more than handy batsman.

Johnson isnt good enough to bat 7, especially in a test match, and especially in india!

Don't think Henriques is a much better bat than Johnson. If Johnson could be part of a 5 man attack, I wouldn't have any problem. His inconsistencies could create serious trouble in a 4 man attack, but with his handy batting abilities, he could be considered for a bowling all-rounder's role in certain conditions.

but not in india!

Harbhajan Singh, the India Offy, will be the 10th Indian to play hundred test matches. His selection is indicative of the crisis in India's spin legacy more than anything else. Here is an interesting interview with Harbhajan.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/522530.html

surely Ashwin and Ojha is enough....alongside Jadeja's spin option..

Henriques, who doesn't have Johnson's pace or swing, and who's batting not much better, won't fit the bet much either. Among the 2 I would have opted for Johnson, but I would rather have them playing an additional batsman, or a batting all-rounder like Maxwell. Not that Maxwell is terrific in either departments, but he could have offered a handy spin option, and he certainly is a better bat than either Johnson or Henriques.

I would have liked India to have given Bhuvneshwar Kumar an opportunity. He was very good with the new ball in the ODIs, and considering the crisis in the bowling department, he could have been given a chance. He could also have contributed some handy lower order runs as well. Bhuvneshwar's strength is swing, while he's not in the James Anderson league, swing nevertheless has been Australia's undoing in recent times.
Now since they are indeed going in with at least 3 spinners, I hope the track will be a propper turning and bouncing track, and not a stupid flat monster or a slow and low strip of nothingness.

Worried about these bomb blasts. Poor innocent people.

Sport pales into insignificance when these horrible things happen.

msp, what's the situation like there? Is it just because of the strikes and how safe is it really for everyone?

I would tend to side with msp on this - I don't see that Henriques is going to score significantly more than Johnson with the bat (he is a better batsman, but it's marginal) whilst Johnson's threat with the ball would have been much greater. The only thing I can think of is that with both Starc and Pattinson in the side, Australia want another bowler as well as Siddle to be able to play a containing role, and Henriques seems to fit the bill.

I like Maxwell, I really do, but overall it's probably a year too soon for him for test cricket.

Australia's squad indicated that they would pick one of the all-rounders, and they've gone for the one who showed the most form in the warm-up games. Fair enough really I suppose.

Australia, having won the toss and deciding to bat, are 80-2 at the moment. David Warner is on 36, and Shane Watson is on 4. Ed Cowan was stumped by Dhoni of Ashwin, and then Ashwin had Phil Hughes bowled for 6.
The big call of the day came from India in the makeup of their side. They have included Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the playing side, and I like it. But they included him in place of Pragyan Ojha, India' best bowler in the England series, meaning both Ravichandran Ashwin, and Harbhajan Singh are playing. Ravindra Jadeja rightly retains his place ahead of Ajinkya Rahane, and offers a third spin option.

Australia 111-2.
Harbhajan Singh's comeback hasn't produced any quality difference so far, he continued to offer at least one short and wide hit me ball every over, the moment he was hit for a boundary he almost always responded with a flat and fast one, and he fired too many into the pads and was taken for plenty.
R Ashwin looked the best of the 3 spinners. Ravindra Jadeja stopped many runs on the field already, and looked to offer more control for his skipper.
Harbhajan has to really perform, or his hundreth test has to be his last in India colours. He can't keep someone like Ojha, who while not being spectacular, nevertheless is a better option than Bhaji is at the moment.

David Warner reaches 50. He had his share of luck, was dropped by Sehwag, the easiest of catches, in Ashwin's first over, when he was on 18 and Dhoni missed a dificult stumping of him in Ashwin's next over.

Australia 126-2.
Cleary Australia's session. Ashwin has picked up 2 wicketws, but Australia have already scored 126 runs, and both Watson and Warner are looking good.
Ashwin bowled well for India, and Jadeja did a decent containing job. Harbhajan has gone at over 4, and has done nothing to justify his selection.

How is the pitch?

Biltong wrote:How is the pitch?

Well, there is nothing much in it for the quicker bowlers, no bounce, no real carry, no seam movement.
As for the spinners, all the 3 Indian spinners got the ball to turn a bit, and Ashwin got some to bounce. Seems a decent spinning track, although the turn on the first day isn't quick, and the spinners aren't getting any pace off the wicket.

R Ashwin strikes twice after lunch to send both Warner and Watson back. He has taken all the 4 wickets so far. Michael Clarke has come in, and he's joined by Matthew Wade. Australia 138-4.
Watson was out in Ashwin's first over after lunch, beaten by low bounce, was given out LBW on what looked like an umpire's call on impact although the ball was clearly hitting the stumps.
Warner, who had survived 2 chances against Ashwin, played back to a full length ball, and was stone dead LBW.

msp83 wrote:

Biltong wrote:How is the pitch?

Well, there is nothing much in it for the quicker bowlers, no bounce, no real carry, no seam movement.
As for the spinners, all the 3 Indian spinners got the ball to turn a bit, and Ashwin got some to bounce. Seems a decent spinning track, although the turn on the first day isn't quick, and the spinners aren't getting any pace off the wicket.

Cheers.

The Assies won't really be able to expliot the conditions for spin on day 4 and 5 then?

They don't have any prodigious spinners, do they?

Harbhajan continues to go at almost 4 and releases the pressure on Clarke and Wade. Clarke, when set, is a fine player of spin, and he has already moved on to 14 of 26. He has been used to saving the situation after early top order wickets, this time he has a better platform. He can very much turn the tables on India if they take the foot off the gas.