da luck： With the India – Australia Test series about to get under way, former and present cricketers give their opinions on what will happen, what will not, and everything in between
Wisden Cricinfo staff03-Dec-2003
“You have got to have belief” © AFP
Rahul Dravid on the mighty Australians
They are the number one side and therein lies the opportunity for us. Wehave a chance to show we can compete, there’s no point getting overawed.They are a tough side and if you are going to match them over a courseof four-Test series, then you have got to have belief and confidence andfight through tough times. There would be tough days on the tour.Hopefully, we could keep our chin up and keep fighting right through thetour. I don’t see it as a last frontier. Indeed, we have a lot offrontiers to cross. We have a lot of challenges to meet and we see thistour as one of those challenges. It’s no different than any other tour.()Shane Warne has a go at Ganguly even before the Tests have started
Short-pitched bowling is his major weakness … I’m not surprised he isalready struggling on the tour. He will have to overcome a lot of chinmusic to have a successful series. The first Test will be on a bouncyGabba strip and Tugga (Steve Waugh) will have slips and gullieseverywhere, because all of Ganguly’s shots go through point or behindthe wicket. Ganguly needs to show his team that no matter how hard it isagainst the short ball, you must hang in there and have a plan – eitherduck, hook or sway out of the way.” ()John Wright backs Virender Sehwag to deliver the goods
We back Sehwag and respect his enormous ability. He is very strong andbright. The way he plays his game on fast and true pitches, he couldgive us a rousing start. We still rate him well but he obviously needsto find better form. Opening is a critical part of our success overseas.We hope we can improve in that area. If we can get through the firstperiod, the middle order would have a chance. It is hugely important tous.()Justin Langer wants to demoralise India
I’d really like to see the first over of the World Cup final. ZaheerKhan came out all pumped up and aggressive but within an over themomentum of the game had turned. Good body language and positive cricketis the key to winning any cricket match. Hopefully we’ll get apsychological advantage when India walks in here and sees that grass onthe wicket. It’s something they’re not used to. ()Ian Chappell thinks India have erred in not selecting Murali Kartik
Bowling Australia out cheaply could have been a more achievable ambitionif the selectors had included left-arm orthodox spinner Murali Kartik.Not only is he a talented flight bowler, he also has a big heart andloves to compete. As a competitor he has the makings of another AnilKumble but he suffers because either Sourav Ganguly doesn’t rate leftarm orthodox spinners or he doesn’t understand their worth.()Richard Hadlee tells the Indians not to expect miracles from BruceReid, their new bowling coach
Reid cannot do miracles with the Indian team which does not have a verygood bowling strength. He can only work with whatever talent isavailable at his disposal. The only way the visitors can beat theAussies during their Test series is by slowing down the Australian runrate and then improving upon it. The Australians try to score 350 to 400runs per day so that by the third day of the Test match they will beready for the killer punch. So the important thing for the Indians is toslow them down and make them earn every run. India’s batting line-up ispretty good. So when batting, they should try to score runs quickly toget the psychological advantage over the Aussies. The Indians shouldthink positively from the word go as the Aussies will make things toughfor the visitors and if the Indians fail to take up the challenge thenthey will be beaten. ()Rod Marsh talks up Ricky Ponting
He can go as far as he wants to go because he has got the talent.Sometimes very specially talented cricketers never reach their fullpotential, but what they do is often good enough to make themoutstanding players. At his best, if he did reach his full potential,there is no reason why he couldn’t be like Bradman or Tendulkar andthose sorts of people. ()Allan Border tells India to be positive, really positive
Spinners traditionally don’t play a huge role in Brisbane but as ShaneWarne has shown in the past, you could do your stuff on the fourth andfifth day. For that to happen, the Indians will need to take theAustralians on to the final day, something a lot of visiting sideshaven’t done recently. They could do it if they play near to theirpotential as Australians are not used to being stretched. If thathappens, spin bowlers could be decisive.I think the Indians should look to take their four best bowlers in thegame. If two of their best four are spinners, then so be it. They couldalso show themselves positive and aggressive by having five bowlerssince Australians tend to rattle up a huge score and then put theopposition under pressure.()