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India vs. Australia: series preview

The last time India played Australia at home was also the last time they won a series against opposition that ranked in the top 5. The series winning match in Bangalore was marked by several key performances with Tendulkar scoring 214 and 53*, Vijay scored his maiden century, Pujara announced his arrival with his knock of 72 in the second innings chase, and Zaheer and Harbhajan led the charge for wickets amongst the bowlers. Given what's happened since then, you couldn't blame Dhoni if he wished desperately for a repeat of at least a few of those in the 2012-13 series launcher in Madras. Tendulkar has since not scored a Test match hundred at home (and averages 28.83), Vijay has only now reclaimed a place in the side, and Zaheer and Harbhajan are a shadow of the bowlers they were and are struggling to even keep their places in the side. Pujara is the only one who has actually enhanced his reputation and is starting to show signs that he can become the fulcrum of the batting order in future. The other fulcrum of the batting will have to be Virat Kohli and this is probably going to be the series that determines whether he has it in him to hold the line-up together and potentially be the next in line for the captaincy. As for the little giant from Mumbai, while it would be good to see him bow out with glory, the chances of that happening look slim. As much as the batting has been hot and cold (as has Dhoni's personal test match form), the shambles that is the bowling attack will be an even bigger worry for Dhoni going into the four match series. Ashwin needs a quick turnaround if he is not to go the Ajantha Mendis way of mystery bowlers rather than the Saeed Ajmal way. Ishant Sharma has now played nearly 50 games but it now looks like Warne made the "he has played the same Test 33 times" comment about the wrong bowler. That leaves Ojha and he's never going to be the bowler who singlehandedly runs through sides. Patience and perseverance are going to be the key for Dhoni's men and if they are to win it will have to be session by session, brick by brick.

One other thing that will give them some confidence is looking at the opposition. From that game in Bangalore, they have just two survivors (Clarke and Watson) whereas India have seven. No Ponting, no Hussey, and no Katich means they are light on experience and Mitchell Johnson is in a similar phase to Harbhajan (ie he's still in the squad but will struggle to make the playing XI). In Siddle, Starc, and Pattinson they have a strong pace attack and their effectiveness will be the real key to how they fare. Get it right and they will restrict a shaky Indian batting lineup to manageable totals. Get it wrong and their inexperienced batting will face up to the Indian tweakers boosted by runs to play with which will be an uphill battle. Especially given that Warner, Cowan, Hughes, and Wade will all be playing in India for the first time. They have been making the right noises and have made the right selection (in my opinion at least) in picking Henriques over Maxwell, the proof will really be in their response to pressure.

Whichever way it swings, it should be a fascinating series between two teams that are in the throes of rebuilding. And while all of the nonsense around the absence of DRS, radio and media rights issues etc does leave a bit of a bad taste, I'm really looking forward to it and am certainly not going to be as cynical as Sid Vee seems to be about it :-)

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