Eng-Aus

You have got to give it to the England and Australian cricket teams. Having played a reasonably exciting Ashes (please read Zaltzman on this one), they have somehow connived bring a modicurm of excitement into a series that is nearly as pointless as watching Rohit Sharma play short balls (had to get it out of my system!).

Despite Australia not having played the brand of cricket that one associates with them (save a superb Ponting century), England have struggled with grim determination to dig themselves into a progressively deeper hole, which while Australia is not exactly helping them out of, is not something that Australia is pushing them into either. That said, there are things that I must greatfully thank England for:

1. The adrenalin rush of watching Shah and Boapra trying to communicate in a language that the other can understand while running - difficult obviously since there are all of three words to choose from. Invariably, their partnerships have been some of the most exciting moments of the last 6 matches - lacking in everything but suicidal running abilities.

2. Moments of Nostalgia - Watching English bowlers bowl to Australian batsmen reminds me of the Indian bowlers bolwing to the Pakistani batsmen in the 80's and 90's. Much like their counterparts of days gone by, England's bowlers have managed by sheer perseverence to bring each and every Australian batsman into form, days short of the biggest but one cricket tournament in the world. Remember how every batsman in the world had his highest score against India at one stage - give it a couple of years and watch the same come true of this bowling attack as well.

3. A reason to write - England's incompetence has atleast got me to write again (and will maybe get this blog working again!).

As a complete aside, whats up with these ICC nominations!!!

So long..

Oz-fatigue has kicked in. Like lovers, India and Oz spent the better part of two months titillating, rubbing, scratching, biting, gouging and slapping each other - before getting absolutely tired of each other. They will now wait a few years before meeting again - new perfumes, sexual techniques, new haircuts - all adding to the anticipation, not of winning over the other, but just to meet.

Meanwhile Ganguly, Dhoni, Kumble and Bob Dylan sit around a fire.

When we meet again
Introduced as friends
Please don't let on that you knew me when
I was hungry and it was your world.
Ah, you fake just like a woman, yes, you do
You make love just like a woman, yes, you do
Then you ache just like a woman
But you break just like a little girl.

Why so excited?

For days now, the news media been inundated with articles announcing the death of Australian supremacy. So then will some Aussie chicks burn a few bails?

Much as I would love to see that, this burning would be more than a touch premature. For some reasons, all the articles seem to acknowledge that the Aussies are still numero uno, and yet they come out with headlines that are either heart-rending in their soppy sentimentality or completely misdirected and fucked up with their superciliousness.

Ok, so there was a margin of victory that hasn't been witnessed in a really long time. So? And there was the general lack-of-threat, a directionless in the field that was distinctly un-Australian.

India have had much worse losses - some of them in the recent past. Did that vault them from a middling team to minnowhood?

India have appeared far more lackadaisical in the field, never hitting the stumps, for matches and matches on end.

True the Aussies 'have lost a few great players, importantly two match winning bowlers, and now their batting cannot stand the strain of putting larger scores up on the board. And yet, if their team plays anywhere near potential it is really difficult for any team to beat them. There is the best batsman in the world, the best (at least a couple of months ago) fast bowler in the world, and the statistical anomaly known as Michael Hussey. In combination, and with inputs from Michael Clarke and Mitchell Johnson, this team can easily make themselves near impossible to beat. It requires coordinated excellence from all quarters of a team to do so. Mohali had attacking batting, good quick bowling, some swing wizardry, spin magic, solid fielding and assured captaincy from India. In the last 20 years, only Australia has consistently ticked all these boxes.

Plus, everyone ignores the cricket superstructure in Australia. Spinning reserves might seem a bit of a problem, but why doesn't anyone acknowledge Peter Siddle's impressive performance on debut? In some way, his performance was as much a source of relief and optimism to Australia as Mishra's was to India. Siddle ran in over after over, and got the ball to lift off an uncomfortable length. Shaun Marsh is on his way here. David Hussey is an impressive guy. And Andrew Symonds is still in the picture.

So basically, let us not get carried away. Aussies are still number one, and will remain so for the foreseeable future.

Hustler gangster XI - Australia in India 2008

Mathew Hayden is not only the tough guy, he wants you to know he's tough.
When he plays well, Australia do not lose. He is Marv. Not always pretty. You want him on your side.














Krab Katich. Not beautiful. Has a long history of flitting into the story - sometimes batting, sometimes as a chinaman, and of making way. Very useful man to have in your touring party. He is Luca Brasi.






















Pricky Ponting. Absolute superstar with just one gap on his CV and desperate to correct it. Also desperate to be liked, and considered a statesman of the game. The second half of his career has covered up any indiscretion in the first. He is Fast Eddie Felson towards the end of Color of Money. He's very annoying if he's not on your side.







Michael Clarke is a talented young man with a pretty mercurial rise for an Australian batsman. Has a hot chick. He's Vincent Lauria to Ponting's Eddie Felson. Playing on the same team how wierd is that?















Michael Hussey is most described as a consummate professional. Accused of being dispassionate, he proves them wrong when time and again he brings out that ingredient x which goes beyond talent alone. Can win you a match. Will scrape you a draw. Will never let the team down. Not very entertaining. He is Tom Hagen.











Brad Haddin is the guy they sent to sub Jesus. Doesnt look the part at all, but can be surprisingly effective. He has previously shown everyone how good he can be in India., but the shadow of Gilchrist is long. He's young Michael Corleone. On his first real assignment.
After the best training there is.













Cameron White is a specialist of the new game, but not too bad at the old one. Is not the best leg spinner around. Is not the best whacker of the cricket ball. But pretty useful fellow to bring along just in case. He is Kip Raines from Gone in 60 Seconds.


















Brett Lee is the best in the business. Loves to be humble or seen as humble. Like Bill who knew his craft, cunning and strength would not protect him forever. At the moment though, he's crusing; scything down anyone in his path - and has already had a legendary battle on his own turf.
















Mitchell Johnson can blow hot and blow cold. But India has previously brought out the best in him. Central to the plan of a new generation of Australian cricketers. Works hard, knows his game, knows he is not Akram and plays with what he has. He is Tommy from Goodfellas.










Stuart Clark will do all the dirty work, all day. He has the height and even thepace if he wants to. Prefers to use cunning. He is Big Chris from Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels.







Jason Krezja is not proven at the highest level. There is cocaine in his past. Recently got a pasting. But at the moment, he's all they have and he's who they'll have to rely on. Once in a while he is surprisingly coordinatied and competent. Not enough. He's Vinnie from Snatch.

Tension

Yes, yes, yes!!!

The Aussies are down. But will they stay down? An intriguing test match this, on a dodgy pitch, with the best Aussie batsmen out, and the West Indian pacers on fire. But what kind of a target is actually gettable on this pitch? The lead is already 136, and I don't fancy the Windies chasing anything more than 240 without Gayle. Unless of course the Chrab turns up for an encore.

Disco Dwayne!! So the IPL is not so debilitatng for Test match techniques, eh?

Getting all excited

I tend to agree with Unc J Rod when he argues for compulsory intoxication when it comes to really enjoying an entire one-dayer. So it came as a surprise to me when I found myself making an effort to pull myself out of bed on a Sunday. I am excited about this series.
 
No, it’s not about Gilly's retirement. I am already tired of that.
 
I want to watch these guys bat against some of the best ODI bowlers.
 
No, not Gambhir and Uthappa who have been in the team for a while now and should be expected to become more consistent about continuing after getting their eye in. The same goes for Karthik and Raina whenever they get a chance. And certainly not Yuvraj and Dhoni who need to be held accountable for all miserable innings totals. This series will be a fair test of whether their freestroking abandon will hold up, something Sachin was able to do at his peak with several times the expectation on him.
 
I refer to Rohit Sharma and Manoj Tiwary. The captain made his call when he opted for Tiwary ahead of Raina and Karthik, and I only hope he persists with that call.
 
I say hope because Tiwary stood horribly exposed today. Something extremely Dadaesque about his approach to fast short bowling aimed at the throat. And then the yorker and then death. Sharma has something of a Mark Waugh about him. He can look so good, and so calm, but will routinely stand accused of playing a lazy shot when he gets out.
 
Both are in Ozland because of their promise. Enough promise to be in the team ahead of Dravid and Ganguly. And both are being talked up as possible Test replacements for the Fab Four in addition to Badri. Ian Chappel went all gushy wushy when he spoke aboout Sharma, mentioning him in the same sentence as Tendulkar, Lara and Ponting. Having said that, let us hope these two are cut some slack. Give them at least four games on the trot before you give Karthik or Raina a go.  
 
When Tiwary meets Lee the next time, I will be watching.

Like a pack of wild dogs

Aussies were just awesome in their bloodthirst. I love T20 cricket, I think, because even this steamroll had me watching.

India, on the other hand, were stunned. Like deer caught in the headlights type thing. Sharma, Uthappa, Gambhir, Sree have never played in Oz before and it showed, but Shaken not Stirred Dhoni was a spectacular disappointment.

Clarke's field for Ishant Sharma when he walked in said it all.

Getting Hayden

Right now, Haydos is sitting pretty and looks set to make a mountain of runs tomorrow. How India deals with hungry Hayden will be decisive in how the contest pans out.
The ball isn't swinging now and is unlikely to swing through the first session tomorrow. India will need to use intelligent defense as an attacking strategy. Hayden gets really restless when he is tied down, and invariably looks to manufacture shots. He gets away with it some of time, but if India are pig headed, they can win this mini-battle. Extremely tight bowling, protection of the square boundaries and curtailment of singles. This may mean taking a few slips out until the ball starts to reverse, but that looks like their only chance if he is going to survive the first five overs tomorrow.
If he starts walking down the track, Dhoni may need to stand up to the stumps for Pathan.

Paandav kitne the? (Or the power of five)

If you're not the kind of Indian cricket fan who goes only by the scorebook, the end-of-Perth analysis of this series is this:

Bowling has been excllent. Batting has been ho-hum, but all but one have shown they are in good form. Regardless, they won a game which people are calling the greatest win ever. So, excellent.

It would be unreasonable to burn effigies now, even if they come back 3-1, even if the fourth was an huge innings defeat. Let me be clear that I think it is unreasonable to burn effigies anyway.

This means that the Indian team goes into this match with a license to thrill, and so it does not make sense to go in without the power of five. Arpy-Pathan-Ishant-Kumble-Bhajji.

Looks good on paper, and even better in the first three matches. Be sure that they won't reduce the Aussies to dust at Adelaide, but we know they can trouble their best.

Is this series a statistical anomaly for Michael Hussey (avg of 54 only)? Or will we learn that Michael Hussey is a statistical anomaly? The bigger threat is Mathew Hayden. How does one get Hayden out cheap? Especially if he just wants to score runs and nothing else will do. Well we can start with throwing five decent bowlers at him.

What of the batting? There is no doubt that Jaffer has been the weakest link, and if Kumble's thinking concurs with what I have said above, he will have to get the chop. I would have preferred it if it were a middle-order batsman, but none of Ganguly-Laxman-Dravid can be dropped at this point.

Your best batsmen or your best openers?

At the same time, everyone but Jaffer have shown some excellent form, and what is rumoured to be a batting beauty is perhaps, just what the doctor ordered. Ganguly has a point to prove and this is his best chance. And Sachin and Laxman are not without a sense of occasion - their last chance(?) against the best team in the world playing at home. And there is Dravid with all those happy meories at this ground.

But this should, by no means, be the end of the road for Jaffer. I suspect there is an even chance that it may be, but that would be very cruel to a man who made runs in England, West Indies and South Africa.

Is there a case for a parallel change to bring in Dinesh Karthik in place of Dhoni? There is, because then we can continue to keep Dravid at number three. But is this going to happen? No.

Australia does not need to play five bowlers. Also, with Brad Hogg into the batting at Adelaide, there is a lot more sting to the tail than merely that other statistical anomaly-Mitch (avg of 99 only).

I hope Mitch continues to play, and I hope he overcorrects his wide outside offstump line and bowls on the pads.

Timing

I'm all for the BCCI's bold move where an ODI batting lineup will take shape under the tutelage of Gary Kirsten and Sachin Tendulkar, in harsh Aussie conditions.

But timing is a gift. Ganguly has it. The BCCI does not. I will be very interested in Dada's response at Adelaide.

All's well with the world

Right now, life seems to be clothed in a mellow light, there are birds singing outside my window and they aren't annoying, and the weather in Delhi is just the perfect mix of cool, breeze and sunshine. Also, India have just won themselves the most signifcant match since I started watching the game.

Even if India go on and lose badly at Adelaide, to script the first half of a turnaround from 2-0 down, is remarkable for a touring Indian team. Forget the events at Sydney. Forget that it was Perth. Forget that the legendary Hayden was sitting out. This match is one for the ages, simply for the confidence-injection that it will give the likes of Arpy, Pathan, Ishant, Dhoni and Sehwag. Here is a team that can now create its own winning streaks, provided they continue to look forward.

Ishant Sharma will leave Perth knowing that he made the best batsman in the world today, look like a tailender. Pathan and Sehwag know that they belong in the international arena. Arpy knows for sure that he can lead an Indian attack in years to come. Dhoni hasn't messed up with the gloves all series.

Can we forget the role of the Chief? Lead kindly Kumble. Credit to him for lifting the team from Sydney. Hope he lingers as captain for more years. What a champion! Nineteen wickets in the series already. Talk about leading from the front!

Pathan has become a very smart cricketer, and I suspect he is fast turning into what Uncle J Rod calls a Probot. When asked to bowl when the ball is flying around, even a television viewer is arrested by the sense of calm that he brings in. You can almost see him make an assesment of the situation, and quitely determines the line and length that is largely required. That he had evolved into someone who could look beyond the storm, was clear in the T20 World Cup itself. In Tests, he is not only a bowler who can make the new ball talk in helpful conditions, but also someone who can be relied upon to keep it tight when the strokemakers are set, and perhaps induce an error. With such an abundance of left arm swing bowling options, he may not always make the team, but his presence will make Zak and Arpy persevere for improvement. Man of the match in the T20 finals, a hundred in his comeback Test match, and now another MoM performace when it counts.

Sehwag should go forward from here and he should not give anyone a reason to question his spot at the top of the order. His contribution to this team cannot be measured in terms of his runs, wickets and strike rates alone. "Work ethic" was one of those sound bytes floating around when he was dropped and it is up to him to make sure that not even demented selectors and BCCI mandarins have a reason to say that again. But what a bowling performance, na?

Jaffer remains the only one to have not made a contribution in Australia, and the knives are out. I hope they persist with him, but I have no words in his defence. But I will stick by my point that as a team looking to challenge Australia consistently, a settled opening partnership is important, and that means identifying openers who will do the work for you over the long run and then sticking with them through good times and bad.

Australia will need to reconfigure their bowling attack, and in all probability, so will India. But Mitchell's skills as a swing bowler are under some doubt, and Wasim Akram keeps criticizing his new bowling action on air. Ponting needs to do something about that fast, or find a better third seamer. He also needs to ask himself if he got carried away by the hype. Why did he not include a spinner at Perth? Was it because the part-time spinners did better than Hogg in Sydney? Or did he believe that this Perth wicket required a four-man pace attack? He will need to question how he arrived at that conclusion. It is strange when a visting team assesses conditions better than the home team.

As for Adelaide, expectations are already sky high. Mather Hayden will be back, and India have a chance to level the series. I cannot wait.

Enough?

The way Arpy handled pace and bounce almost like a proper batsman, makes me worry. If Australia break a record to set a record, and if India cannot dismiss them before that, they obviously deserve to win this match. The difference between 414 and 500 may yet prove crucial, especially in a situation where Hussey can sit back, chill, and not worry about cutting too many balls.

Dismissing Hussey will be the key becuse he will need to drop anchor like Laxman did today and Dravid did in the first innings, while Ponting-Clarke-Symonds-Gilchrist attack around him, and I don't see anyone else able to hide their strokes like he can.

Sehwag is truly back, and in this match, he has already been worth the changes in the batting order. If he can continue to give us these starts and if the managment can assess them as adequate and anything more as a bonus, India is back to having a winning batting combination. Sorry Dinesh, Gambhir, Chopra, this is really unfair on you guys, but you will need to push much harder and displace Jaffer. Because you see, in this case, it is not just about how many you score.

Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly: One of them should have pushed for a bit more and Sachin was looking in really fine touch. He needs to get a second innings contribution going in this series. Top order implosions in the second innings. Will we ever get this m****y off our back?

Pathan, when he bats, has the brain of Hussey and looks a bit like Kambli. He is a determined man, is he not? And with two openers in his pocket, we can look forward to a confident bowling display from him tomorrow.

Laxman, you stud. I think it is time we said that graft now comes as naturally to him as flair. He has batted at number six (unfairly) so often now that he has become used to responding to crises, as opposed to setting the agenda. After doing it in in South Africa, in England, and now in Oz too, you are now as much of a king of attritional batting as Dravid or Kallis are. The Laxman-Dhoni partnership rescued India from gloom to a position where Kumble can now attack for at least two sessions. (Assuming the Aussies can be kept down to less than 120 a session). Arpy came out firing, and then bowled like a spearhead.

Ishant was not on target today, like he was in the first innings, and the sooner he realizes the importance of getting it right from ball one, the better it is for India. But if his wheels come off tomorrow, we are in for a mauling, and Soulberry and others would stand vindicated in wanting to opt for five bowlers.

One wicket with the new ball. Hussey's indiscretion, caught at second slip off Arpy. And then India can dominate.

What you may call Test cricket

Saw the first couple of sessions and they ended up being some of the best hours I 've stolen off work. A hint of a partnership from Dhoni and Pathan was quickly snuffed out by Asad Rauf, and Australia will thank him and Tendulkar at the end of the day for a state of affairs that is not yet entirely out of their control. The lower order should have contributed more and Kumble needs to ensure that he and those batting below him can contribute a minimum of forty runs in every match. Even without Bhajji. But Lee was fierce again, though Mitch got most of the wickets.

After Pathan and Arpy gave Mitchell a lesson in left arm swing bowling, Ishant's first spell was real quality. He may look retarded when he chases the ball, but to pig headedly pursue the channel on a track where a young quickie is liable to get too excited, showed he had a brain, precariously perched on that spindly body. Michael Clarke and Ponting are good scalps to have, on what the experts were calling a batting beauty that was expected to become even better for batting.

We are building a good bowling attack here, fellers. Both Arpy and Zaheer have shown a taste for the spearhead role. Pathan showed today with the new ball (with a li'l help from Rauf) that he is more than just containment, and what is more, he has the experience of having gone through a lot of shit form to make a comeback. There are Sree, Ishant and Munaf competing for
the right arm quota, with Praveen Kumar nipping at their heels, see what he did to Delhi today - along with Pankaj Singh and VRV. Options galore with left arm and with the right. Swingers and skidders too.

Anyway, then Symonds and Gilchrist survived a good spell from Arpy and then decided to show us why exactly the Aussies have won sixteen on the trot. Sachin spilt one and then they scored at seven an over from a situation of 60/5, and I cannot imagine Dhoni/Yuvraj being able to do that, and I do not understand why. Please someone explain to me what Symonds and Gilchrist eat before they go out to counterattack. What is the source of their fearlesness?

Anyway, Kumble had to call himself in to quell the rebellion, and Arpy cleaned up after him, in what was one of India's best bowling performances in recent years. All is not ost yet for the Aussies and Tait may yet come to the party and cause what Sidhu calls the "cycle stand theory of Indian batting". But he seems to be running into the sort of trouble that was plaguing Sree at Trentbridge. His spell early tomorrow will reveal a lot about his character and Ponting's skills of managing the wild ones.

India should try to bat through the third day, and that should get them to 400, which is the bare minimum with so much time left in the match.

Basically, doesn't look like it will be a three day rout, but the doomsayers may yet be right.

Delicious.

Didn't see no blood

That's it, it is settled then that only the Aussie media can compare with the Indian media when it comes to creating hype. After all that talk, I thought I'd see at least Jaffer taken to the hospital by the end of the day. On the contrary, both Jaffer and Sehwag did their job, but no more. Sehwag got out to a ball he need not have played (what's new) and Jaffer got out playing a shot that deserved criminal consequences as he was looking comfortable, using his height to get on top of the bounce. Both fell in quick succession, leaving Tendulkar and Dravid to counter a pumped up Lee and nagging Clarke in a period of play that was really exciting. Lee brought out his entire armoury and even had Dravid nick one to The Next Captain of the World who dropped it. Tendulkar had to work really really hard.

And it paid off in the second session with Tendulkar running a lot of singles and audaciously slicing a few over slips, while Dravid looked much more fluent than he has al series. Through all this, one wondered who let the hot air out of the Tait balloon, but it is early days yet to say anything. A few balls of his today deserved wickets, but the pace certainly did not match the hype. Tendulkar's dismissal was not the cleverest of umpiring decisions, getting hit above the knee roll at the WACA, but it evened out when Billy gave Dravid a reprieve after he was struck plumb in front by a Johnson yorker. Both Johnsons were on view today. Stunning inswinger was followed by short ball outside off, cut away, quite regularly.

Ganguly came and went. He need not have played that ball, but on another day that would have scorched the grass on the way to the fence, we should not be too critical, but he really must make better use of his good form. And after Laxman played a few brave strokes, both him and Dravid started treating Symonds and Clarke as if they were Kumble and Bhajji bowling on Day 5 at Chennai. Perhaps it was because of the impending new ball and the unwillingness to expose Dhoni and Pathan, but they only ended up getting out to rubbish shots. Dravid in particular. Played like Dravid, got out like Afridi. And Laxman, ended up looking very stupid when he misread the line on a bouncer. And then another searing spell from Lee which Dhoni and Pathan managed to keep out.

Brett Lee is the Dude of the Day.

Meanwhile...

Following Kumble's pullout from the catching agreement, the Australian government, in a tit for tat move, went back on a commitment to sell uranium to India. These Aussies play hard. But fair.

My choice for Perth

Jaffer
Sehwag
Laxman
Dravid
Tendulkar
Ganguly
Dhoni
Pathan
Kumble
Arpy
Ishant

Guess who's back?

Yes, him, the Ugly Indian Cricket Fan.

The effigy burners were out in force last night. On a talk show, one proud participant claimed that Steve Bucknor would not last a walk on Mumbai's streets, and was loudly cheered. Nationalists, regionalists, centrists and all manner of scum were on hand to extract their measly mileage from some dangerous ideas of 'national pride'. The killers of Rizwanur and religious extremists only took this warped logic a step further.

The Hindi newsmedia had no pretence of balance. The English media had that, politely wiping the froth at the edges of their mouths. As a society, we need to introspect. On the same day that eight died in a fire tragedy at a Delhi slum and a historic Himalayan village fell victim to another, it was a game in faraway Sydney that seemed to find more use for the term, 'disaster'.

Shafted without mercy but we had it coming

We got shafted but we had it coming. Congrats Australia. You played hard but I will not trust you for the longest time. Not like you need my trust, but I am just letting you know.

Congrats India for a well-played four days. You came closer to challenging Australia than any team I can remember in the recent past.

Anil Kumble may not be a brilliant tactician, but if there is one man who can lead by example, it is him, it is him. If India feel done in by the umpiring and other events out of their control, and find it hard to pick themselves up for Perth, they only need to look towards their captain.

India are really bad in the fourth inings. In fact, if you leav the Indian batting with seventy odd overs to stave off defeat, chances are that we will get bundled out. Whether there is an enticing declaration or not. More often than not, the top order does not pull its weight. Jaffer, Laxman and Tendulkar are better than the manner of their dismissals suggest. Laxman got one that stayed low, but he gets out to ones that stay low with annoying frequency. We also needed Sachin to stay there for a while more. Is it cruel to ask this of batsmen who have ruled the ground since what seems like the beginning of time?

I think Dhoni did well. At least better than the man just above him in the batting order.

Eight balls.

Both Dravid and Ganguly have reason to suspect umpiring neutrality today. But a better team would have been able to take a couple of bad decisions in its stride. Don't whine.

Bucknor needs to retire. Now. Benson needs to read the little black book of rules.

Yuvraj Singh is not a good number six. Any captain will bring a reasonably good spinner on when he walks out, and he will lose his mojo. This series has also showed that spin his not his only weakness. But I still will not drop him for Perth. If there is one place in Oz where Yuvi has a better chance to succeed, it is there.

I'd stick with the same team, but Jaffer and Yuvi are on notice.

Who is Pankaj Singh?

This is what the Cricinfo Player Profile says:

Pankaj Singh, a tall and strapping right-arm medium-fast bowler from Rajasthan, has progressed from the Under-19 level to the India A side with consistent performances since he made his first-class debut in August 2003. By 2006 he started showing signs of having matured, taking Rajasthan to the final of the Ranji Plate league, with 21 wickets at 20.95. In 2007, he was part of India A's twin tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya, and a total of 18 wickets in the unofficial Tests and ODIs in Kenya earned him a spot for the home series against South Africa A. With Sreesanth and Munaf Patel injured, he earned a call-up to India's Test squad to tour Australia.

Can they be stopped?

Pakistan in '99, India in '03. Will the subcontinent be third time lucky? Will Bangladesh lose in the 2011 finals?

Will Sri Lanka suffer the same fate? Will the Aussie penchant for the big occasion prove too much to handle for Lankan wristiness, elegance and joy? For me, that is the key, and that is where India faltered in the 2003 final and how South Africa got so badly outclassed yesterday. Come the big occasion and at least three Aussies put their hands up, and usually that is enough. Where others wilt under the pressure of the spotlight, the Aussies have been able to raise their game. And that will be Sri Lanka's test too. Will they, like South Africa did, buckle under pressure and lose soft wickets at the top of the order? If they do, Shaun Tait will shoot to kill the middle order. Will Malinga, like Zaheer in 2003, lose it? What counts in Sri Lanka's favour is that they have three men who have been there and done that a decade ago.

Level-heads will help of course.