Dhoni continues his winning streak

India won the second test against Australia today by 320 runs. The victory margin is that big for various reasons:

1. India batted well in the first innings with Ganguly's hundred and Dhoni's 92 getting India past an average score to a good score once Tendulkar had led the way with 88.

2. Australia bowled averagely. Bowling in India is hard. Ask Warne. Lee hasn't played in India before and is dealing with off-field problems and the other bowlers haven't really played test cricket before. Siddle and White are doing very well given their inexperience. Johnson appears to be able to bowl well against and in India but can't take wickets against anyone else. Which is kinda backwards but Ponting isn't going to complain at the moment.

3. Australia batted like idiots. For Watson to rescue the first innings and then Clarke to be the last batsman standing in the second indicates that there are problems. Hayden, Hussey and Ponting are the players you would expect to make hundreds when the team is up against it and they were MIA.

4. Dhoni's luck/karma/good captaincy inspired India and especially the bowlers to improve on their performances in the first test and achieve a deserved win. The bowlers out-performed Australia's attack with the pace of Sharma and Khan and the spin of Misra and Harbajan managing to get good batsmen out.

The first and second tests have shown that test cricket is alive and well despite all the 2020 hype. Here's hoping Australia fix their problems in time for the third test and make it a close series.

Aussies get ready to take on India

The Aussies are getting ready to take on India in what should be an awesome test series. The Aussies are in transition from their glory days and the rest of the pack are catching up. The players appear to be dealing with this in their own ways.

Brett Lee - getting mean and moody after realising he has to single handedly bowl India out as Johnson is flaky, Jason Krejza has just been hit for 123 runs in 20 overs and Stuart Clark is likely to just plod away. Or else he's just heard the single he released with Asha Bhogle and realised how bad it actually is.


Bryce McGain - the pressure of being the saviour of Australian spin broke his shoulder leading to heartbreak for Ponting and JRod. I'd mock his selection but JRod had me convinced that he would be awesome and I was looking forward to seeing him play.


Ricky Ponting appears to have realised his team is somewhat less well prepared than last time and may not do as well as he wants. The obvious course of action when things get tough is to resort to his "I'm a tough Tassie who won't take any crap" persona (although the means of transport somewhat takes the edge off).


Come on October 9th... The random talking can stop and play will begin.