Batting the prime focus

There is, in fact, a strong temptation among Indian cricket fans to compare this series and the one that the Aussies lost in 2001. The Bangalore loss may be similar to the one in Mumbai, which India lost by innings, in terms of margin but what has Chennai got to offer with regard to the form of the current side?

The Indian batting, in the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, is bereft of class, depth and anchor and, if we go by statistics, Chepauk more than any ground in India will miss the maestro who has scored freely here.

The Bangalore Test exposed the bare cupboard that is Indian cricket8217;s batting reserves and it8217;s a pity that the BCCI8217;s system is not able to produce fresh talent. Or perhaps it8217;s there, in some grade of cricket or the other, but the system is not tuned to help them join the mainstream.

If, say, you want to replace Aakash Chopra for the Chennai Test, you have to turn to Gautam Gambhir, not in the original squad for the first two Tests and lacking too many great knocks at the higher levels.

Chopra, of course, was not the only one who failed in Bangalore; the entire top order collapsed in the face of some tight and controlled seam bowling by the Aussies. One man who could grab Chopra8217;s place is Yuvraj Singh, who has indicated time and again that he is ready to open in Tests. It may well happen in Chennai, leaving the door open for one middle-order spot, most probably for Mohammed Kaif.

Then again, the Indian selectors are not known for making drastic changes for fear of failure. So don8217;t be surprised if they retain the same eleven for the second Test.