India tour of Australia 2011-2012

[M@zh@R]

RE: India tour of Australia 2011

Dhoni, Fletcher wary of 'out-of-form' Aussies

CHENNAI: Australia are clearly not the side they used to be. With a loss to New Zealand on Monday, the skeletons are tumbling out of the cupboard, but the Indian team is still not ready to take things for granted.

Skipper MS Dhoni and coach Duncan Fletcher have been in the profession long enough to know that an Australian team going through a rebuilding phase can really be dangerous. Wasn't the team that won the 1987 World Cup going through a similar phase?

For 40 minutes on Monday at the team hotel, the Indian media tried its best to make Dhoni say that this is their best chance to win a series Down Under. And you just couldn't get it out of him. "When we went into the series against West Indies without Harbhajan Singh, no one knew what R Ashwin was capable of in Test cricket. And see where he is now...How do you know that Australia don't have similar talent in their line-up who is just waiting to explode?" Dhoni said, when asked whether this is the weakest Australian attack they have ever faced.
Newspaper:Times Of India, 13th Dec

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: India tour of Australia 2011

Skipper Clarke worried about Oz top order not firing

Australian captain Michael Clarke has expressed concern about his top order not firing against the opposition, and is particularly worried about opener Phillip Hughes lack of form.

“I am worried about every one of us. I can't be worried about the top order when the middle order didn't go very well either,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Clarke, as saying.

“We knew in these conditions that if you got a start you had to go on, and that is why I am so proud of Davey (David Warner) because we spoke at the start of the game that there was going to be seam and swing with grass on the wicket, so if you get in you had to cash in,” added Clarke.

Phillip Hughes, after failing to add to his overnight tally of 20, is shaping as the first casualty but by no means will he be the only incumbent whose future will be keenly discussed by John Inverarity's five-man panel?
Newspaper:Indian Express, 13th Dec

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: India tour of Australia 2011

I have moved on: Simon Katich

Disgruntled Australian cricketer Simon Katich has given up hope of coming back to the national team and doesn't know whether he would ever be friends again with captain Michael Clarke after holding him responsible for the loss of his central contract.

Katich was reprimanded by Cricket Australia after his public outburst against Clarke following his axing from the Australian Test team.

“I pretty much know they've made their decision, there is nothing much else that has happened. No matter what level you're playing at, you want to play at the highest level,” Katich told 'The Daily Telegraph'

“I wanted to play as much Test cricket as I possibly could, and that is why I was bitterly disappointed (at losing my contract). I have moved on,” he added.

On the chances of being friends with Clarke again, Katich said, “I guess, down the track, hopefully. I think it was all sorted out after the incident (when Katich grabbed Clarke by the throat in the SCG dressing room in 2008) and we were able to play together in the same team for a couple of years -- I can't answer that question. That is done and dusted,” he said.
Newspaper:Indian Express, 13th Dec

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: India tour of Australia 2011

Setback for Australia; Tim Paine out for 4 months

In yet another setback for an Australian test squad depleted by injuries, backup wicketkeeper Tim Paine is expected to be sidelined for a further four months after surgery on his finger.

The 27-year-old Paine has not played any first-class cricket for Tasmania this season after re-injuring his right index finger during a warm-up match.

Cricket Australia doctor Trefor James on Wednesday said Paine’s recovery had been slower than anticipated.

“It is clear that the fracture has not healed as expected and the best course of action is for Tim to undergo further surgery,” James said.

Paine, who has played four tests, was to undergo surgery later Wednesday.

Australia starts a four-test series against top-ranked India at Melbourne on Dec. 26 and is in upheaval after a seven-run loss to New Zealand on Monday cast doubt over the immediate international futures of opener Phillip Hughes, No. 3 Usman Khawaja and veterans Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin.

The lack of experienced backup for Haddin takes pressure off his selection as wicketkeeper.

After winning the first test against New Zealand by nine wickets, Australia had to settle for a drawn series following the loss in Hobart on Monday. No. 8-ranked New Zealand captured its first test win on Australian soil since 1985 when Doug Bracewell inspired a batting collapse and finishing with 6-40 as Australia slumped from 159-2 to be all out for 233 chasing 241 to clinch a 2-0 series win.

Pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson is out for four months and 18-year-old fast bowler Pat Cummins isn’t expected to return until late in the series against India. Allrounder Shane Watson, top-order batsman Shaun Marsh and veteran seamer Ryan Harris are all due to return from injuries at some stage during the four tests against India.

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: India tour of Australia 2011

Ponting or Hussey may be axed: Border

Selectors might be forced to axe Ricky Ponting or Mike Hussey from the Australian cricket team for the upcoming four Tests against India after their dismal show in the just-concluded series with New Zealand, feels former captain Allan Border.

“I think one of the old boys will go,” Border told Fox Sports show Inside Cricket.

“I think Hussey or Ponting will go.”

While Hussey’s dip in form is recent, Ponting has been without a Test hundred for almost two years now and former Australian players feel the ex-captain is creating a tough situation for himself by not stepping down voluntarily.

“He’s a great of the game, he’s been fantastic for Australian cricket,” spin legend Shane Warne said.

“Now you’ve got the situation where he’s not performing.

So now everyone’s going to talk. It’s going to annoy Ricky, it’s going to annoy the team ... it is just the worst scenario possible when he decided to play on.

“I want Punter to get runs but when you see him getting out like this, it’s just disappointing. I think we’ve got to say ‘what are you going to do?’”

The view was echoed by former pacer Damien Fleming.

“Without putting a time limit on your career, you leave yourself open to this,” former Australia paceman Damien Fleming said.

“If he said he wanted to play the summer six months ago I reckon the selectors would have gone with that. But he’s said before the Hobart Test that he wants to continue on. Well, his figures are making it really hard for him to get a game,” he added.
Newspaper:The Hindu, 14th Dec

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: India tour of Australia 2011

Dhoni's Indians arrive in Australia

The Indian cricket team led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni arrived here yesterday for a gruelling tour of Australia that comprises four Tests, a tri-nation ODI series with Sri Lanka as the third team, and two Twenty20 matches.

Some members of the team Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Ishant Sharma, Zaheer Khan and Umesh Yadav had reached Australia a week in advance to acclimatise themselves to the conditions.
Newspaper:Mid Day, 14th Dec

 

[M@zh@R]

RE: India tour of Australia 2011

Lead-up to first Test is the key - Dhoni

MS Dhoni, the India captain, has said how his team utilise their time in Australia in the lead-up to the first Test will determine the outcome of the series. "It depends on how we prepare ourselves during the 12 days before the Test match and how we adapt to the conditions," Dhoni said. "Most of the batsmen have played there before. We are hoping we will do well there."

India have been poor starters overseas of late and have lost the first Test of the series on their previous trips to Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and England. But Duncan Fletcher, the India coach, said an early arrival in Australia for some of his players coupled with two warm-up games should be sufficient for the team to acclimatise to conditions. "You hope that they do adapt during that period of time. Probably it is enough," Fletcher said in Chennai ahead of the team's departure to Australia.
source:cricinfo

 

[Karthik]

RE: India tour of Australia 2011

Rahul Dravid's Sir Don Bradman Oration - full transcript
http://www.cricketcountry.com/cricket-articles/Rahul-Dravid-s-Sir-Don-Bradman-Oration-full-transcript/9069

 

[Karthik]

RE: India tour of Australia 2011

Team India jet-lagged but upbeat on Twitter
http://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/news/item/182401-team-india-jet-lagged-but-upbeat-on-twitter?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

 

[Karthik]

RE: India tour of Australia 2011

India eye quick acclimatisation in Australia
http://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/news/item/182395-india-eye-quick-acclimatisation-in-australia