Fighting fit with pacemakers

Hyderabad, October 5: It wouldn’t be out of place to question the bowling department of a team that concedes 746 runs in a game. But to label the Aussies attack as toothless after the warm-up game and suggest that they need dentures for the Test outing is certainly a premature diagnosis.

Going beyond the aggregate runs scored by the Board President’s XI and a close look at individual bowling figures of each Aussie bowler will make one understand why a dental appointment isn’t quite the first thing on the minds of Ricky Pointing and Co. when they reach Bangalore.

Of the bowling bunch, debutant offie Jason Krejza missed the inglorious 200-run mark for the game by a single run while part-time left-arm spinner Michael Clarke conceded 84 runs from 17 overs. Clearly, the two wicket-less slow bowlers have a lot to do with the general bad name the Aussie bowling is earning.

As Krejza finished with an economy rate of 6 plus and almost 7 in the two innings, the disciplined show of the four pacers, who gave away about 3 runs per over, was overshadowed. And it was this slackness of the spinners that was responsible for the Indian batsmen wriggling out tight corners time and again. Like it had happened so often in the match, Australia’s weak link was again exposed on Sunday morning.

Overnight batsmen Yuvraj Singh and Wasim Jaffer started with survival on their minds. In the first eight overs of the day, Board XI had scored just 22 runs. That’s when Brett Lee took rest and the ball was thrown to Krejza. In the following 12 overs, Yuvraj and Jaffer scored 87 runs of which, 64 came off the offie’s bowling. With runs under their belt, Yuvraj and Jaffer became comfortable and soon even the pacers got a similar treatment.

Yuvraj later explained his team’s plan of gathering runs. “Since the pacers bowled tight, we knew that we had to score against the spinners. We didn’t want to miss that chance in the morning,” he said.

This wasn’t a one-off instance but trend all through the game. Like Yuvraj and Jaffer here, the first innings top scorers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli too were benefited by the inconsistent Aussie bowling attack.

But if one takes the Aussies spinners out of the equation, the pacers’ performance was satisfactory if not exceptional. Brett Lee didn’t prove to be the strike bowler but considering the workload ahead, he seemed to be saving his best for the Test series. Stuart Clark’s was his usual consistent self and was the most successful and economical bowler here. Mitchell Johnson bowled 24 overs in the first innings to get himself ready to play the role of a workhorse third pacer but his 4 wickets showed he too was in good rhythm. Peter Siddle was good in parts but not consistent with his line and length.

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