Ganguly's gang must ensure they are not complacent
The third Test at the M.A.Chidambaram Stadium has produced the same amount of excitement which used to prevail in the midseventies and eighties for Test matches
WV Raman
18-Mar-2001
The third Test at the M.A.Chidambaram Stadium has produced the same
amount of excitement which used to prevail in the midseventies and
eighties for Test matches. As soon as the Indians bowled the
Australians out in Kolkata, the mad scramble started for tickets in
Chennai. The Chidambaram Stadium has always been a venue where
extraordinary feats were witnessed. It is only fitting that the
sporting crowd of Chennai gets another opportunity to enjoy what would
be another gripping contest as both the sides will fight it out for
the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Three changes have been made in the Indian ranks which is a first of
its kind because the norm was always to stick to the winning
combination. Then, of course a lot of incredible events have taken
place over the last three days in Indian cricket. The spin department
has been strengthened further with the inclusion of Bahutule and
Kulkarni with Raju getting the chop. Both Raju and Sanghvi have enough
reasons to be disillusioned with the system but the bottom line is
about results in this game. Kulkarni has come into the side because of
his performance against the visitors in Mumbai. Bahutule has been on
the verge of getting into the side on a few occasions and for a man
who was dropped from his state side at the beginning of the season, he
will be very pleased with his progress.
The pitch at Chennai will probably aid the spinners sooner rather than
later. The toss will play a major role because the spinners get bounce
at Chennai along with turn. So far the visitors have crumbled under
spinner friendly conditions except in the first Test. The visiting
batsmen will have to work out a strategy to not only survive but also
dominate the Indian spinners. It will also be interesting to see how
the visitors recover from the reverse they suffered in Kolkata.
Australia are in an alien situation as they have been thumping their
opponents in recent times. The fact that the batsmen did not survive
even seventy overs in the last Test will weigh very heavily in their
minds. It will take all the mental strength the Australians can muster
to win the final Test of the series.
As far as the hosts are concerned they have to remember the
significant words uttered by their coach, John Wright. Ganguly's gang
must ensure that they are not complacent and get into the final Test
with purpose and resolve. They have stopped the winning streak of
Australia with a magnificent victory but the onus is on them to win
the series. Ganguly has been provided with the luxury of four spinners
and he also has a lot of variety to boot. It is imperative that the
Indians once again put up a good batting display in order to enable
the spinners to bowl them to victory.
The home team has everything in its favour with all the batsmen
finding form and Harbhajan Singh emerging as a leading strike bowler.
Psychologically the balance has shifted in favour of the Indians on
the eve of the decisive Test. On the other hand, the Australians have
to fight against all odds to achieve their ambition of winning a
series in India after a long gap of thirty years. The Australians may
find the heat and humidity in Chennai a bit too much to handle. Given
the various circumstances, the game promises to be one hell of a Test
match as both sides cannot afford to falter at the final hurdle.
Whatever transpires in the next five days, this will go down as one of
the most memorable series in recent times.