'India Need To Play Their Cards Well'

It will surely cross the Indians' mind whether to playtwo spinners in the first Test at the Gabba.

Spinners traditionally don't play a huge role inBrisbane but as Shane Warne has shown in the past, you could do your stuff onthe fourth and fifth day. For that to happen, the Indians will need to take theAustralians on the final day, something a lot of visiting sides haven't doneagainst the world champions recently. They could do it if they play near totheir potential as the Australians are not used to be stretched. If thathappens, spin bowlers could be decisive.

I think the Indians should look to take their four bestbowlers in the game. If two of their best four are spinners, then so be it. Theycould also show themselves positive and aggressive by having five bowlers sincethe Australians tend to rattle up a huge score and then put the opposition underpressure.

A lot of visiting sides show negative attitude, try notto lose ground to the Australians in the first game and then hope for headway asthe series wears on but I'm not sure if this is the right way. The Indians needto get their attitude right and resist the Australians who surely would belooking to breathe fire and dominate them from the first session of the firstTest.

If the Indians take six batters including a wicketkeeper who could bat and ifthey still lose trying to be positive, so be it. At least they would have showna positive attitude at the start of the series.

Harbhajan Singh to me lately doesn't seem a bowler whohas done too well in Test cricket. It could be because he has been too much intoone-day bowling mode. It will be important for India if he retains his Testmatch bowling form. It is not beyond him either since quality players raisetheir game when it comes to big matches. He surely has a role to play becausethe Australians traditionally haven't done too well against qualityoff-spinners.

It is really positive on the part of Indians to seekout Bruce Reid's services as a bowling coach. He was one great Australiancricketer whose career was cut short by injuries. He had the potential to be oneof our all-time best bowlers. He has done tremendous work with Nathan Brackenand has been responsible for his elevation. If he could work with your left-armpacemen, he could really give crucial inputs about the deficiency of Australianbatsmen and help put the pressure back on the hosts.

I think the best way to get to the Australian battingis to bowl with controlled aggression. It wouldn't help if they try to breathefire and end up bowling rubbish. They would be whacked around if they showmindless aggression. They need to bowl a good line, maintain control and beaggressive and Reid could play a role here.

If the two left-arm pacemen could swing the ball, bringthe ball in for the right handers and bowl deliveries which leave theleft-handers they could be handful. But they must bowl in the right corridor andshow controlled rather than mindless aggression.

Australia would surely look to target Saurav Ganguly. They have always done itagainst the visiting teams. He would be a target, as surely would be otherbatsmen, as their ability to cope with short-pitched stuff would be put toquestion.

Sachin Tendulkar, as always would be a key batsman forfor the Indians but it would be folly if they leave everything for the great manto deliver. They couldn't be putting all their eggs in one basket and rely onhim all the time. Other guys have to step up and play their roles. It can't beif Tendulkar comes good everyone fires and if he fails the others perform as ifthey have no hope.

This Indian line-up has a lot of quality and RahulDravids and Gangulys are all capable of producing big scores. If the Indianscould raise a huge total, their bowlers could bowl better and it would put theteam in better shape.

With Steve Waugh announcing his retirement, it wouldsurely act as a motivation for the Australian team. They surely would like tomake it a memorable one for Steve. Although it would not serve as the onlymotivation, it surely would be at the back of their minds to pay a fittingtribute. They surely would be trying a few percentage harder and it could allmake things still tougher for Ganguly and his men.

PTI