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[PedalsMcgrew]

You can only afford to gamble on Harris if you know he is going to last the match and on previous evidence you'd be guessing. To be honest if you were going to do that you'd be better off persuading Lee or Tait to play one test as they are both better than Harris!

It's a fair point that India are slow starters though....if you get on top of them early in the series then it's there for the taking.

[Alvaro]

Runs aside, it seems Australian cricketers with brains (or at least their own minds) tend not to get picked. Only the ones that bang on about 'executing their skills'.

[Alvaro]

This is an interesting article too. Everyone likes to bag Counties for serving their own interests, but it seems it's an Australian thing too...
http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia-v-new-zealand-2011/content/story/543976.html

[cricketbadger]

india are pants,load of old men and extremely average bowlers and potentially the worst fielding side in the international game today
aussies in slight transition with some exciting prospects coming through, looking forward to watching it and see how the old men cope on some fast and lively pitches hopefully in comparison to there flat tracks back home

rant over

[Opener]

I haven't looked much at Indian cricket since the England series. But while everyone says they are a poor  fielding side do they drop catches much? Recently I have seen many a accomplished fielding sides routinely dropping regulation catches.

[Alvaro]

Gambhir falling over and banging his head dropping a sitter against England was quite comical.

[100 not out]

My question would be do they have the bowling to take 20 wkts.
There were some bowlers on show in the odi series in England that would struggle to get into county teams. To win a test match you need to get 20 wkts that's a certainty.

[uknsaunders]

I sense a change of tactics by many countries to maximise home advantage. Nothing wrong with that and it's made some of the cricket in the last 18 months far more interesting as a result. I personally don't think the teams have even come remotely close to preparing green tops, just adding a little more grass. It's nothing that a decent test batsman shouldn't be able to cope with. The big losers, of course, are India who look more and more exposed as their team ages.

[cricketbadger]

any side no matter how brilliant they are will drop catches now and again
there general all round fielding standards of india on a whole are terrible,comical to watch at times especially during the england series

[Village Trundler]

Also, they keep saying Ponting look great in the nets, that also gets to me because net form means absolutely nothing! No pressure, not playing for anything, so it means nothing. Anyone can be a net hero, but if they constantly fail in the middle then they clearly aren't up to standard, which Ponting falls into.

Just got to convince the ICC to schedule a test series in the nets and we'll have a more functional top order.

Marsh pulled out of the tour game, but intends to play in the big bash for "confidence". Bugger that. He wants to get his priorities sorted before he is given another shot. Last thing we need is more injury prone openers.

Also...... Clarke has the best form and is the leader.... How long can he hide at number 5 while the top order is so fragile? He needs to man up, get in at 3 and take the pressure off the kids trying to find their feet at that level.

[Hads45]

Indias bowling attack might appear pissweak to others, but it always kills Australia. Sharma will bowl like Tremlett did last summer, and Zaheer will swing it well. Any above average spinner (and Ojha is pretty good) pegs australia down.

You could count the amount of times Australia have scored 400+ on the one hand in the last 3 years. Noone scores hundreds and noone gets big hundreds more importantly.

As weird as it sounds, I also think India save there best cricket for Australia, and I read nothing into there 4-0 loss in england this year.

[Nickauger]

......and I read nothing into there 4-0 loss in england this year.

Please bore us with your reasons as to why England's performance was that pointless lol, or are you just trolling?

[PedalsMcgrew]

Khan and Sharma will only be factors if they are fit. Khan was at least 2 stone overweight against England and Sharma is brittle. I do agree though that if they are fit they will cause Australia problems. The thought of Warner and Watson opening the batting against a fit Sharma and Khan doesn't bear thinking about! On the whole though I still think it will be a drawn series. Neither sides attacks are good enough to take 20 wickets. India because they are a bit rubbish (assuming they won't be that fit) and Australia because the indian batting line up is so strong and they are a tad inexperienced.

[uknsaunders]

Sharma bowling avg 58, strike rate 94 in the england series. He's so much like Tremlett it's uncanny lol

Clarke is to loose to bat higher. He batted 4 I think in the ashes and was rubbish.

[uknsaunders]

Khan and Sharma will only be factors if they are fit. Khan was at least 2 stone overweight against England and Sharma is brittle. I do agree though that if they are fit they will cause Australia problems. The thought of Warner and Watson opening the batting against a fit Sharma and Khan doesn't bear thinking about! On the whole though I still think it will be a drawn series. Neither sides attacks are good enough to take 20 wickets. India because they are a bit rubbish (assuming they won't be that fit) and Australia because the indian batting line up is so strong and they are a tad inexperienced.

Did you not watch the England series. India can collapse on any flat wicket. Managed it 4 times lol