See off Lee, McGrath; hammer the others

Yet I do not believe they are invincible. There is a way of getting at them, and it is not by targeting the batsmen — rather, it is by targeting their bowlers. Because, though Messrs McGrath, Lee and Bichel have impressive figures to show in this tournament, they have not once been put under pressure.

Indeed, even if the batsmen can only put up 200-odd runs, the quality of their bowling magnifies the target by 100 runs or more.

But let’s stop for a moment and see what the bowling really is. It usually means that, after eight or 10 overs from Lee and McGrath, the opposition has lost five wickets for a handful of runs. That makes it easier for the second line of Bichel and Brad Hogg to keep up the pressure and the strike bowlers, if necessary, to come back and wrap things up.

So what do India do? Simple: Play out the first 10-15 overs without losing more than one wicket. Scuttle and thwart McGrath and Lee. It doesn’t matter if there aren’t runs on the board; what’s more important is that you have wickets in hand. That’s how we played Kenya in the semi-final: a steady acceleration in the scoring rate, knowing there were wickets in hand.

It will not be easy, of course, because the Australians are master tacticians. They don’t reduce the opposition to 50/5 by pure luck. They have a gameplan for every player and they will be sure to target Sehwag and, especially Ganguly.

Which is why I believe that, if an early wicket falls, it should be Dravid, and not the captain, who comes to the crease. Dravid is technically equipped to weather the storm and can act like a shield, soaking up hostility like a sponge. Ganguly will be under intense pressure and if he goes it will add to the pressure on Dravid and the rest.

If India can see of the strike bowlers, half the battle is won. The second line of attack has never been under pressure and the likes of Symonds and Hogg will be easy picking for the in-form Indians. The trick is to play to your strength, not your opposition’s strength; India’s strength is its batting and they must back that up.

Many would say that the Australian batting is fragile, pointing to mini-collapses against England, Pakistan, New Zealand, Sri Lanka. I believe, though, that the batting is as strong as it needs to be. If one gun doesn’t fire, another does. In fact, this is to Australia’s advantage because today they go into a match having successfully handled several pressure situations. The Kenya Super Six match excepted, India have not; they haven’t needed to, but do they have the knowledge that they will be able to?

Great teams, like tall mountains, retain their majesty through the fiercest storms.

This will be India’s sternest test in this entire tournament, and not just because it’s the final. Expectations will be much higher than the first time they played Australia; the neutrals favour them, the odds are not that heavily stacked against them. It is certainly not beyond the Indians to tame the Aussie might. The doors of opportunity will be opened by pushing.