Showing posts with label Tendulkar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tendulkar. Show all posts

Captaincy not the issue for Australia

So, now it's sack Ricky Ponting as captain? Crazy talk. You could not drop Ponting as the skipper unless you were also dropping him from the side. He is the strongest character in the team by far, he cannot be captained by someone else - imagine what that would do to the dynamic of the dressing room? Pakistan know all about it, ask them.

Ponting certainly could not be outed on form, he was Australia's best batsman in India.

And to appoint Michael Clarke now would be unfair, he is struggling with the bat and he does not want the role while Ponting is around. 

Wonder what Shane Warne thinks of Hauritz now he's discovered it was the bowler, not Ponting, setting the fields in India. Warne knows the perils of Indian wickets; the great one averaged 43.11 runs per wicket there, compared to his career average of 25.41, so he knows that sometimes, no matter what you try, things don't work.

It wasn't any ill-conceived plan by Ponting that cost them, it was an inability to bowl to the plan. As much could be seen when Hauritz put up an apologetic hand towards a sombre-looking Ponting after Tendulkar had pummelled him for a second consecutive six on Wednesday.

Ponting makes his errors on the field, no doubt, but that is not why Australia is fifth in the Test rankings. In the last few years, Australia's middle order has wilted in the heat and their bowling attack cannot rip through a tail like their predecessors.

Should he become the first Australian captain to lose three Ashes series, Ponting's own intuition might tell him he's done.

Hauritz faces his biggest test in India

Nathan Hauritz is preparing for the greatest challenge of his career as he gets ready to face Sachin Tendulkar and his batting colleagues at home early next month. The Australians fly out on Sunday for the two-Test series in India and Hauritz said he was not daunted by the prospect of leading Australia's spin attack.
"I'd say so definitely," Hauritz told AAP. "Playing against India in India in those conditions. The wickets where we are playing are not normally the traditional spin-friendly ones, but Tendulkar and those sort of guys, it will be a great challenge."

The first Test is in Mohali starting on October 1, before the teams move to Bangalore to complete the short series. Hauritz has not played since June due to a foot injury but he has the support of the captain Ricky Ponting to remain the first-choice spinner ahead of Steven Smith, who debuted in England.
"I'm going to have my individual plans against those guys and if they don't work I've definitely got plan B and plan C to go from there. It can be quite tough to bowl over there because the wickets can be very good to bat on and the outfield can be very fast."