MELBOURNE, DECEMBER 25: Action gets under way on Sunday after an inordinately long gap between India's last game and the start of the second Test. After five days of practice in the morning and discussing strategy the rest of the time, the players finally get one more chance to put an embarrassing past behind them and give the Australians some competition to enliven this Boxing Day Test match, which has been hogging headlines for various reasons.The Indians have been almost absent from the Australian mind, their presence here merely incidental, as the build-up to the Test match at Melbourne would suggest that the match is being played to give Shane Warne his record and Brett Lee a chance to make a memorable debut.Almost for a week now the Australian public, through print and electronic media, were reminded of how Warne is about to overshadow one of their great sporting icons Dennis Lillee and the wonderful talent of Lee, who it is said has it in him to beat the 100-mile pace barrier. The Indians have gone unnoticed, though occasionally there are a few lines of great praise for Sachin Tendulkar and a ``few other talented guys' in the side.This has suited India fine and that is what they too would have wanted, to be left alone and grapple with the myriad problems troubling them. The pressure is now all on the Australians. They are `Invincible,' the `best' Test outfit after the West Indian team of the eighties and a side which all opponents fear to play. Leave out the hype and all this could be true, especially when they are playing at home.The Australians have created a larger than life image for themselves and it is not always easy to live up to these expectations. The Indians best chance here could be Australians either becoming victims of their own `superiority' or succumbing to a disease called complacency. The Indians had come into this Test series without any great hopes and the Adelaide experience, despite the massive defeat, has shown that the Australian batting is vulnerable and their bowling should be attacked.The Indians went too much on the defence in their first batting essay in Adelaide. Bowlers like Glen McGrath and Shane Warne are at their dangerous best when the batsmen play them with a defensive mindset. The wickets like the MCG, which have a generous bit of bounce on the opening day, there is no point pottering around. Attack or perish, that has to be the strategy.The Indians would love to have a decent start from their openers. VVS Laxman, who takes Debang Gandhi's spot, is a bold attacking stroke-player and so is Sadagopan Ramesh, and there is no point spending too much time over their technical deficiencies. If the two can hold on for a while and by staying for a decent amount of time on the wicket, not expose the famed trio of Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly, too early in the innings, the Indians could built up a total which could challenge the Australians.The Indian bowling has been very disciplined and on the spot. There is a need to inject it with a dose of hostility and there is one man in the team who has the ability to answer fire with fire. Javagal Srianth has been the most underrated bowler of our times. Despite his pace and the ability to get the ball bounce steeply, he has not been able to built an image of a tearway bowler for himself. What better place than Australia and the MCG ground to change all that. Srinath has it in him to knock a few batsmen. The question is: Can he do it? Cricket has a funny way at mocking at those who take victories for granted.The Indians would be hoping that the Australians are making that mistake. Otherwise, one does not see much hope for them.TEAMS (from)INDIA: Sadagopan Ramesh, Venkata Sai Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, MSK Prasad, Ajit Agarkar, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble and Venkatesh Prasad.AUSTRALIA: Greg Blewett, Michael Slater, Justin Langer, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Damien Fleming, Glenn McGrath, Michael Kasprowicz and Brett Lee. Rain may play spoil sportThe best laid plans of the Victorian Cricket Association of seeing an overflowing MCG is under cloud. The weatherman is forecasting thundershowers and rain for next three days. On the eve of the Test, the weather was very hot and humid during the day.By evening, the temperature fell a bit and it rained a while. Because of the weather, the Australians have delayed announcing their final XI, which they will do in the morning. It means that the suspense over Brett Lee's inclusion spills onto the morning of the match.
