Australia have won three, lost just one and drawn four in eight Test matches against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The last time India played at this ground, they had the home team in all sorts of bother till a battling Steve Waugh and Simon Katich bailed them out. Rahul Dravid, in the middle of a batting rut at the moment, will do well to watch the tapes of his batting in that game: with India looking for quick runs in the second innings, Dravid hammered an unbeaten 91 off 114 balls. In same number of deliveries in the Melbourne Test last week, Dravid managed a mere 16 Most of the other Indian heavyweights have done well here too. Tendulkar leads the pack with 498 runs. In five innings at the ground, he has scored two centuries — including an unbeaten 241 on his previous trip — and averages 249. VVS Laxman (352 runs) isn’t far behind, with two centuries in his two Tests here. The only failure has been Ganguly, who averages just 14 here The Australian batsmen have enjoyed the pitch at Sydney as much as the Indians. Ponting has scored 1226 runs in 12 Tests at an average of more than 81, while Gilchrist (722) and Hayden (756) have been among the runs as well. Only flip side is Clarke 90 runs in four innings at his home ground

INDIA-AUSTRALIA:

Played: 8

Australia won: 3

India won: 1

Drawn: 4

HIGHEST INNINGS TOTALS:

Australia: 552-5 dec in 1999-2000

... contd.