Lucky number 74

74 all out.

I hope this number stays in the memory of the new look Indian cricket team atleast for the duration of the remainder of the tour 'Down Under'.

To be honest, although I did not expect the Indian batsmen to perform exceedingly well in this match, a score of 74 has given me a shock. I expected the 'Men in Blue' to score around 120 and I certainly expected them to be bowled out.

Now, with 6 players stepping onto the Melbourne pitch for the first time in their life, I expected the Indian's to falter. And in that context,Dhoni did the right thing by calling this a practice match, but in the same breath, I would like to add that the least Dhoni could have done was to bat like Irfan did. I expected him to use his brains to get the runs and not his brawn. His form is now looking a bit of a concern although he seems to be unperturbed by the pressure.

Anyways, past is past. Now with Gambhir, Uthappa, Sharma, Kaarthik, Pravin Kumar and Sreesanth getting to know the real deal, I would expect them to adjust a little more carefully and quickly in the 50-50 version of the game.

But a fresh challenge has cropped up with Australia playing the likes of Hopes and Bracken. These bowlers have, in the past, used the slower delivery extremely well. And as was witnessed in today's match, it can cause a lot of trouble the Indian batters if they fail to read it out of the bowlers hand. Ian Harvey and Steve Waugh used it successfully in the past and now these bowlers are using is very well. And Bracken goes a step further, he is an extremely capable slog over bowler with amazing accuracy with the yorkers.

India better adjust quickly.

http://www.cricketnext.com/scorecard/web3/file/auin0102.html