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Journalism of Courage
Now that India has done well in the first Test, they need to keep matching the aggression of the Australians. The world champions normally play their cricket at full throttle and if the Indians are wayward, especially in the bowling department, they will be taxed severely. The two roadblocks in Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden are at the start of the innings itself. The others carry, as you say, the knockout effect. India8217;s bowling must not be shown as inadequate.
Zaheer Khan leads India8217;s bowling attack and he could be more than a handful if he is swinging and getting his length right. He bowls at 140kmph at times and that8217;s good pace. He needs to be supported by the others but I8217;m very disappointed in Harbhajan Singh. He doesn8217;t appear the same bowler to me. He wasn8217;t able to get his drift, curve and spin which has been the hallmark of his bowling. Whether it is because of a finger injury or he has had too much of cricket, I8217;m not sure. India might have to call upon Anil Kumble in Adelaide because they just can8217;t let bowling be their weak link.
Coming to the Gabba, I must say that it was the best I8217;ve seen Saurav Ganguly bat outside his country. He has some marvellous scores, especially in the subcontinent and in one-day cricket. He was under a bit of pressure because of all the talk about short-pitched bowling. But it was a great innings. It8217;s always good if the captain is leading from the front, especially on a tour.
There were two issues from the game about which a lot more was made than required. One of course was Damien Martyn8217;s run out and the other concerned the dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar. Both issues were debated at length and personally I feel there were a lot of innuendos being thrown about.
One must understand that the shot Martyn played had three runs written all over it. There was hesitation and it was one of those situations when run outs occur. Whether he sacrificed it for his captain or tried to make up late for his third run is difficult to say.
Press Trust of India
