Aussie attack is only as sharp as their tongue.

From 359/7 to 526 all out. It surely was an inspired tailend performance by the Indian cricketers once again. And Kumble,the captain courageous, lead the charge from the front. This is not the first time in the series that the Indian tail has wagged so furiously. For that matter , even the Aussie tail has shaken up the Indian bowlers quite nicely on a couple of ocassions.

The 9th wicket stand in the 2nd Innings at Perth for both the teams with Laxman/R.P.Singh putting on 51 and the Johnson/S.Clark partnership of 73, which scared the life out of the Indian players and supporters alike, has shown the poor ability of the sides to polish the tail off in a jiffy on a consistent basis. And how can one forget the Sydney test, where in the Aussie's were able to add a whopping 327 runs between the 7th, 8th and the 9th wicket in their 1st Innings and India followed suit with their 8th, 9th and 10th wicket adding 187 runs in theirs.

But I see the trend breaking in this final test. Before I go into that, I would like to take some time out to write about the human nature of this Australian cricket team. Something I never had the opportunity to see over the last 10 years. I saw the Aussies frustrated, I saw their shoulders droop and I saw them literally at the mercy of the Indian tail as they were unable to trouble any batsman ( even Ishant). It was upto the tail to throw their wickets away and thats exactly what happened with Bhajji and R.P.Singh unnecessarily going for big hits and eventually Kumble getting out in an effort to reach his hundred quickly. At this juncture, I cant help but think that the "Aussie attack is only as sharp as their tongue". The moment you curb their language on the field, they seem to lose their edge because they have mastered the art of applying pressure on the opposition by annoying them or distracting them with their language and after the Sydney fiasco, we can see that the Aussie's are trying very hard to keep their gob shut and in the process, are losing their famed aggresive nature. We saw similar scenes as they went on to lose the Perth test where a subdued Aussie side fought well but could not create unrest among its opposition with their language. This could possibly be the secret of the Aussie juggernaut.

But I would not want to make any assumptions on that front. This is a champion side. No team can win 16 tests in a row twice and 3 consecutive World Cups without cricketing skills and this is precisely why we must fear the Aussies. And we have seen what Hayden does to Australia. The effect is as similar to what we saw when Sehwag opened for India at Perth and now at Adelaide. The aggression was on display and it brings about a sense of security to the batting side. Having said that, I noticed that both Jacques and Hayden had some trouble negotiating both Kumble and Bhajji towards the end of Day 2 and this would augur well for the Indians going into the 3rd day. If the bowlers can hold their heads and bowl to a field, I see no reason why they should not be succesful. The 3rd & 4th day is going to be crucial to India's chances of levelling the series and they should go all out in trying to get the Aussie batsmen out as cheaply as possible. Having said that, its a great pitch to bat on and its left to be seen who makes a better use of the conditions.