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The venue for the First Test starting Friday at Mohali is on the outskirts of Chandigarh. This is a city designed by the French architect Corbusier and built in 1959. It remains India’s first and only planned city. Contests between Australia and India have not always gone to plan in the very recent past.
There has been acrimony and there has been angst. Much hand wringing and posturing.
In this age of increased cynicism the fans will not be fooled any longer. It is time for the cricketers to let the game speak for itself.
It is time for administrators to look beyond their noses and show leadership. To expect statesmanship would be asking too much.
Chandigarh is famous for its rose Garden and Harbhajan Singh is the thorniest and most prickly specimen the Aussies will encounter in this whistle-stop tour.
Harbhajan lifts against Australia. He has a career bowling average in the low thirties but against Australia this drops to 28. His strike-rate against Australia is also better than his career SR. Four of Harbhajan’s seven fifties were against Australia.
Zaheer Khan is the other villain of the piece. Normally a friendly soul he becomes a snarling and vengeful protagonist when confronted by the Aussies. The Australians probable relish this argy bargy and in their own way are not averse to fueling the animosity.
How both sides bottle and channel their “agro” will go a long way in determining the outcome of this series. In Watson, Katich and Johnson Australia have three players not backward when it comes to the verbal fisticuffs.
Watson versus Gambhir and Harbhajan against Ponting are the little sub plots that will keep viewers engrossed.
Ponting has always been a scrapper and is not about to don the velvet glove.
Dhoni is ultra combative and will meet Ponting head on. Not for Dhoni the mind games of Ganguly. He will probably be waiting at he centre wicket for Ponting.
The toss will be important and both will want to bat first because it is the batting of the two sides that will lay the platform for the bowlers. They say bowlers win matches but in India, with the benign pitches, it is the batsmen that hold the key.
Neither side has a settled bowling attack. Both attacks are threatening only in patches. Ishant Sharma is struggling. Sreesanth can be moody just like Johnson. Harbhajan is not the world beater that the Australians have made him out to be in India. He is a confidence bowler and prone to waywardness if attacked. He may well be India’s weak link.
Hilfenhaus is bowling with control and pace and looks most likely to cause the early break through. How the other bowlers support him becomes crucial. Johnson I believe has to perform or be dropped. George is in the reckoning to replace Bollinger and this could be a masterstroke.
The final battle will be won by the team that controls its aggression. The ability to switch off between deliveries, whether batting or bowling. The fine balance between organized attack and foolhardy bluster.
I suppose this series will also determine the relative “smarts” of the two teams.
I have a feeling the stars will be unsung heroes like Hilfenhaus and Dravid. The quiet practioners who have no time for the facepaint.
This Test is also an opportunity for cricket to cleanse itself. To show the world that it has some virtues. To reaffirm the contest between honest combatants.
Inderjit Singh Bindra is the President of the Punjab Cricket Association, the hosts for this first Test. He is also the principal advisor to the President of the ICC.
The ICC is espousing the eminence of Test cricket and is seeking to bring to reality the Test Championship.
Will Mohali be an empty arena of dreams or will it be bustling with the vitality of the faithful. This is as much an examination of India’s credentials as it is of the strengths of the two teams.
This Test can show the kids that dream that there is place for heroes. Cricket must not abuse the goodwill of its core constituents. The viewing public is not going to tolerate average and suspicious fare. It has to look good and, more importantly, smell clean.
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