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This might seem harsh but suddenly Australia's middle order look like world beaters yet only 2 tests ago were playing for their careers. If India are rated number 2 in the world then they are going to quickly slide down the ranking after what I have seen. They might have been great players in the past but now look like a former shadow of themselves. On a highway of a deck in Sydney where they were let Australia put on over 600 for the loss of one wicket over 2 partnerships their batsmen may have scored 400 but not one of them were able to score a century. Dravid & Laxman are no where near the standard they once held and Sehwag may be able to score quickly but his reckless approach to batting is not going to enable him to score a lot of runs without giving plenty of opportunities. Tendulkar has been scoring runs but has also had plenty of close calls that could have cost him his wicket for a paltry amount. Add to this a bowling attack, that once the ball, is old is lifeless and backed up by an fielding side that is bereft of energy. India is in dire trouble if they do not start finding some new talent in a side that has a lot of players closer to retirement than they would like.
Now to Australia. Yes it was not long ago that I was calling for Ponting and Hussey's head due to their lack of runs, but after scoring commanding centuries they have bought themselves time as long as they can continue on in form. Australia cannot afford for them to go on long stretches of poor form again. Clarke's triple century was superb and was the sort of knock he needed to score to show he can bat for long periods of time. I only wish he had batted longer and at least scored Australia's second highest test score if not only to ensure Mark Taylor was one notch lower. But Clarke showed that he thinks more about the team than his own records which is good to see. Besides those three batsmen though there are still troubles ahead for Australia in the batting department. Australia cannot afford to keep losing quick wickets early for little return from the top three. Warner has shown he can score runs but he needs to be able to put scores of fifty together on a regular basis. Cowan has showed promise in his debut and should be given a few more goes before he is crucified but it is the number three spot that is where Australia is weak. Marsh has failed yet again to a very poor shot and after returning from injury might need to go back to domestic cricket to get some form. Rushing him in the team with only twenty/20 games might not have been the best thing. Watson would be seen to be a perfect replacement but with Watson also returning from injury the selectors might need to look for a player who has been showing form over a period of time. In normal circumstances the selectors would look at the leading run scorer in the domestic scene and that would be a very competent and able Forrest from Queensland who would be worth a chance.
The other issue from the test is the performance of Haddin. As he was not able to bat, all he has to take from the game is his effort behind the stumps and frankly speaking it should be his last test after the performance he put in. Yet again he has dropped a catch that was straight forward, and he not only dropped it, he failed to get his hands to the ball. Commentators in the game will say that he deserves to stay as the best replacement, Payne, is injured and that the other in line, Wade, is not quite good enough in his keeping skills. Wade can't be any worse that what is there at the moment and why is it that Hartley does not even get a mention?
Whilst Australia is dominating India and the confidence is in the team the selectors need to keep rebuilding the team.
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