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India vs Australia 1st Test
India missed out on chance to grab upper hand
By sunil gavaskar

Ricky Ponting in action during the first Test with India at Melbourne.

India missed out on the opportunity to take an upper hand in the Test by letting Haddin and Siddle build a partnership that has taken Australia to a degree of comfort. If India can restrict the Australians to under 300, then they will give themselves a real chance to control the Test match.

There is the odd delivery which is bouncing from a length which the Indian batsmen will have to watch out for but otherwise it looks like a good wicket to pitch your tent on. Opportunities like this don’t come too often and India has to cash in on it else they will regret it. If Australia are let off the hook, they will grow in confidence and will be harder to crack in the remaining Test matches.

The Indian bowlers have stuck to their task very well with Umesh Yadav being very impressive. He may have conceded a few boundaries by pitching the ball up or too short but by getting the ball fuller, he got it to swing in the air as well as off the pitch and with his extra pace caused problems to all batsmen. If Ishant can bowl it fuller then he too will be able to trouble the batsmen more than he has so far.

Zaheer came back well with wickets off consecutive deliveries and Ashwin bowled a fine tight line. What he needs is an attacking field since he is getting turn and bounce too. Dhoni has been allowing the singles with the off-side fielder deep, so the pressure is considerably eased on the batsmen. Captains and bowlers are moulded by the different formats of the game. That is why bowlers would rather get cut or pulled by bowling short but are petrified of being lofted when in fact a lofted shot gives them the best chance to get a wicket if the batsman mistimes his shot. Captains also prefer to concede singles than boundaries and so the fielders are set deeper than they should be.

For the Australians, Ed Cowan, making his debut, showed a stubborn streak while Ponting, though not at his best, gave glimpses of what has made him one of the game's greats. Both had trouble against Yadav and Ashwin, but gritted it out as you would expect from the Australians. It is this very grittiness that has helped Haddin and Siddle hold the bowlers at bay. India will have to earn every wicket for even the number eleven for Australia will not throw his wicket away.