Tendulkar ought to divorce leadership when he is batting

In the second innings Tendulkar was unlucky Harper didn’t give him the benefit of the doubt. There were so many moving body parts and the stumps were obscured by Tendulkar, as distinct from the clear view an umpire gets in a traditional lbw, that it was surprising the umpire didn’t rule in the batsman’s favour. A member of the international panel, umpire Harper was fortunate he made both judgements in his hometown.

However, it was so un-Tendulkar like to be ducking, as the Glenn McGrath delivery was really a long hop and Sachin playing in his normal fluent style would’ve belted it to the short mid-wicket boundary for four. It doesn’t pay to duck at any time on the Adelaide pitch, as it is one of the best places in the world to play the pull shot. For the first three days the bounce is reliable and a lot of short balls only rise to the region between waist and chest — perfect for pulling. On the final two days the bounce is variable, as Tendulkar found out and it is best to be in a position to attack the ball that sits up and begs to be hit or defend the one that stays a little lower.

Tendulkar was not to know this, but his big mistake was to depart from his normally aggressive approach. This was symptomatic of his mind set on a couple of occasions in Adelaide, both as a captain and as a batsman. He has to revert to type during the last two Tests and emulate the style he employed the last time these teams met, when he attacked the Australians at every opportunity. Maybe the difference between now and the series in India is the captaincy and if that is the case, he needs to divorce the leadership from his mind when he is batting and concentrate on being purely a player when he’s at the crease.

Tendulkar’s two dicey decisions apart, Australia was the better team, again playing aggressive cricket and there is no doubt they’ve gained in confidence by rolling Pakistan convincingly. The batting successes have been shared around, with only Mark Waugh looking uncertain and for the sake of balance he may be reprieved a little longer. While McGrath and Shane Warne are definitely the leaders of the attack, Damien Fleming is bowling well enough to capitalise on the good work of the dynamic duo.

In fact, Fleming finished the game with such a flourish that he would’ve had a second Test hat-trick if only his good mate Warne hadn’t `pushed one round the bar’ in soccer goalie fashion reminiscent of Bruce Grobbelar in his hey day.

Warne was inconsolable at the end of the game as Fleming tried to make light of the mistake probably with typical black humour in saying, “don’t worry Warnie it’s no big thing, it would’ve only meant a two-one lead to me.”

There is much to make the Australians smile at the moment, but you can rest assured that Steve Waugh will not allow any complacency. It is now up to the Indian team to come back hard and wipe the smile from the opposition’s face. The Australians are currently dictating the terms of battle and India need to quickly reverse he momentum by giving them something to think about.