Bowlers hold all the aces in final Test

Their suspect batting suffered a further blow when Steve Waugh was ruled out of the Test because of a groin injury. And their bowling looks pedestrian despite the presence of Shane Warne, who is all at sea against the aggressive Indian batsmen.

The miserable performance of Australia in India has not exactly come as a surprise. A statistical insight into the performance of leading Australian players last year, during which time they won 10 Tests and lost five, will give a clue to the Aussie debacle. Blewett (average of 42 from 15 matches), Elliot (not in the present team but with an average of 44.28 from 13 Tests), Taylor (29.33 from 13 Tests), Mark Waugh31.40, Steve Waugh (42.30 from 15 Tests), Ponting (49.70 from 7 Tests and Healy (24.72 from 15 Tests) did not win matches for Australia. Shane Warne (68 wickets from 15 Tests and McGrath (not in the present team due to injury took 63 wickets from 15 Tests) were the key players for Australia.

It is clear that the Australian batting had always been suspect and under unfamiliar conditions in India where the Indian bowlers, after a lean trot which saw India fail to register a win the whole of last year, have called the shots and made their life miserable. In contrast, the leading Indian batsmen have done well as illustrated by the averages recorded by Rahul Dravid (61.50 from 12 Tests), Azharuddin (38.20 from 12 Tests), Ganguly (56.53 from 11 Tests), Tendulkar (62.50 from 12 Tests) and Sidhu (53.38 from 9 Tests) during the last calendar year.

Australian captain Mark Taylor has been repeatedly emphasising that the failure has been due to the inability of the batsmen to pile up enough runs. "Our batting hasbeen a big let down. The Indians are good players of spin and as such, our pace bowlers have to strike to put pressure on India. We hope in this Test at least we do better and salvage something from the series. In the past too, we have bounced back from similar situations," Taylor said, sounding a note of caution.

"Steve Waugh was keen to play but we decided not take chances as running between the wickets was going to be a big problem," pointed out Taylor and said there were doubts about Damien Fleming. In the event of the indisposed paceman not making the team, Adam Dale would play.

Anil Kumble’s guile has proved too hot for the Aussie batsmen. However, Srinath’s pulled muscle at Calcutta has been a worry and a decision about resting him will be taken later, said India’s cricket coach Anshuman Gaekwad. "Since the composition of the team will be decided by the selectors, neither Azhar nor will I be in a position to talk about the changes in the team," he added.

The Indian team has never looked asconfident and combative as the present team. India have outplayed Australia in all departments of the game and Azharuddin expressed the hope his side would be able to keep up the winning streak and achieve a 3-0 verdict.

It has been a one-sided series thus far and if Australia are able to put their act together, Bangaloreans can at least hope for an interesting pitch. Bowlers will hold all the aces in this Test and if Warne can overcome his hesitancy, Aussies can still hope to salvage something from a lost cause.

The teams

INDIA: Md Azharuddin (Captain); VVS Laxman, NS Sidhu, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Nayan Mongia (wicket-keeper), Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Harvinder Singh, Venkatapathy Raju, Debashish Mohanty, H Kanitkar, Harbhajan Singh. Coach: AD Gaekwad.

AUSTRALIA (from): Mark Taylor (captain), M Slater, G Blewett, Mark Waugh, R Ponting, Ian Healy, Shane Warne, G Robertson, M Kasporowicz, Damien Fleming, D Lehmann and A C Dale. Reserves: M Bevan, SMacgill, Steve Waugh. Coach: Geoff Marsh.

Umpires: David Shephard (England) and V K Ramaswamy (India).

Third umpire: Dr BK Sadashiva

Match referee: Peter van Der Marve (South Africa)

Hours of play: 10 a.m. to 12 noon, 12.40 p.m.to 2.40 p.m., 3 p.m.to 5 p.m

Tests at Bangalore

The India-Australia third and final Test at Bangalore starting Wednesday is the 12th Test to be played at Bangalore and the second against Australia.

Following are the statistical highlights:

— by TR Kashyappan