An untried stadium in Nagpur will be the venue for Australia to defend the Border-Gavaskar trophy against India. With the series still open after two draws and an Indian victory, the performances from both teams in this Test series should add real intrigue going into the last match.
For Australian captain Ricky Ponting, Nagpur will keep his side on a level playing field because India also do not know the pitch and general conditions. As Ponting said earlier, anything could happen.
Regardless of the destination, though, Australia will be holding their heads high after their efforts against India in the third Test.
After being set a massive 613 runs to chase, the Baggy Greens bounced back to bat extremely well in conditions which were not nearly as friendly as the ones India earned from the coin toss.
Australia’s top order, in particular, all made hefty contributions, culminating in a Michael Clarke century which will install much-needed confidence for Ponting and company.
This coincided with Australia’s bowlers forcing India onto the back foot after exploiting some reverse swing to trouble their opponents.
Even though Ponting admitted that his bowlers needed to be doing that in the first innings, he should be pleased that the hard work his attack has put in is now starting to pay off, with spearheads Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson performing admirably.
While Australia now head into the deciding Test with much needed confidence, a changing of the guard has surfaced for India.
Bowling talisman, Anil Kumble, announced his retirement from cricket near the conclusion of the third Test, which was arguably the biggest news to come out from another-wise stalemate.
Plenty of pressure had been put on Kumble over the last few weeks as he struggled to perform, much of it quite reasonable given the circumstances.
But with Kumble now out of the firing line, Harbhajan Singh will be the epitome of India’s bowling attack, with their spin stocks under some pressure.
Singh’s return though for India could not have come at a better time, and they will now be stronger than they were in Delhi.
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