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Get on the back foot to come good

The Indian cricket team, as far as I can remember, have always played their opening first class game of a tour to Australia at the Gabba. I was, therefore, surprised to read coach Kapil Dev's statement that India should not have agreed to play their first game of the current tour at this venue. Well, Kapil is an experienced campaigner and ought to know that it takes some time for any touring team to get used to the conditions, and his team is no exception. Instead of commenting on the venue of the tour opener, I would have understood had he said that India should have asked for an additional game before the first Test rather than just the couple of games which are scheduled.

In Australia, it takes time to get accustomed to the bounce of the wickets and the bright light. Whenever the ball is hit high up in the air, the fielders, unless they are used to the bright light, find it difficult to judge a catch. Whenever the ball is hit high up in the air, the fielders, unless they are used to the bright light, find it difficult to judge a catch. High catching, thus, is very much an Important preparation for any touring team before going into the Test series. The bounce, of course, is rather unusual and few teams, if any, have done well in their first games in the country.

In fact, Kapil should consider his team luckier than the Pakistanis as far as the itinerary is concerned. They will not be playing any Test at the Wacca in Perth, where the cherry bounces like a tennis ball and the wicket develops huge cracks from the third day which makes batting a hazardous job. Instead, India will be playing on the less bouncier tracks of Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. These pitches, though relaid over the years, do not offer as much bounce as the other Australian wickets.

Visiting batsman in Australia, as in the Caribbean, have to develop back foot play to counter the bowlers, who will bowl more in their half of the pitch if they are to be successful on such wickets. Those, for instance, who can get used to the bounce quickly and play the square cut or square off the wicket competently are the ones who end up scoring runs on such tours.

I recall Gundappa Viswanath and Chetan Chauhan were extremely effective on Aussie tracks, as they played the square cut with elan and scored plenty of runs at an alarming speed and with regularity too. Also, most batsmen prefer playing with lighter bats as it enables them to execute these shots more comfortably. Besides, the Australians never employ a third man to save fours if the batsman edges through the slips, and that can fetch some welcome runs.

After their stupendous win over the Pakistanis, the Australians, rated the best team in world cricket, must be eager to meet the challenge of the Indians. The Indians certainly boast of a better batting line-up than the Pakistanis and will have to live up to their reputation which won't be all that easy a job on Australian wickets.

For the cricket-loving people of Australia, the series should be a treat. In Sachin Tendulkar, the best batsman in contemporary cricket, they see the all-time great Don Bradman. Perhaps they feel they will not rue the fact that they could not watch Bradman in his heyday, if they watch Sachin in full flow taking on the best of Australia's bowlers.

The bowlers will have a lot of hard work to do. During the Australia-Pakistan Tests, it was noticeable that the Pakistanis failed to employ the reverse swing effectively, simply because the umpires had kept a close watch on the ball. It certainly had nothing to do with the Kookaboora balls they used in the series, but it is the checking of the ball after every over that did the trick. Unlike the new ball, the old ball in Australia rarely moves around because of its flat seem, and unless one bowls effective leg-cutters as Lillee or Hadlee did, one finds it difficult to be among the wickets.

The early form of Laxman, who has been on several tours but was never given an extended run, sure is a welcome sign. Technically, he looks better equipped on these wickets than the other newcomers in the side. Test cricket, no doubt, will be a different cup of tea, but one must not overlook the fact that the Australian team has only one real strike bowler in Glenn McGrath.

If the Indians can handle McGrath without losing too many wickets, and put up a reasonable score on the board. I am sure they will have Australia on the mat. Much, of course, will depend on which way the wind blows in the first Test at Adelaide, for it will set the trend for things to follow. At the moment, however, all we can do is wish them well and hope luck is on their side.

Dilip Vengsarkar