The Australians have landed! And this piece of news is not a fictional ad line of any commercial like the 84 Apple’s but a real one, although it is as much exciting. 

So what do you all expect – Another routine series for the Aussies where they extend their 15 match-winning streak or the series where the Aussies will meet their waterloo. Let’s examine the team itself.  Let’s see who can possibly do what.

Strengths: Aussies have batsmen like, Michael Slater as opener, who have done well on such tracks earlier also. He would be ideal to face the opening overs while the ball is  coming on to the bat. The man to follow him is Justin Langer who has not done well of late but has been very successful against India in the last series. Moreover with a century under his belt, in the tour opener, he should feel more comfortable. The Australian batting seems rock solid with players like Mark Waugh and Steve Waugh  who are good players of spin and attacking players like Ponting and Gilchrist who are good against almost all types of bowling. 

The fielding as usual is one of their best weapons, but they might find the going a bit tough here as Indian grounds are not that suitable for diving and sliding. In Gilchrist, they have arguably the world’s best all rounder wicket keeper but how well he keeps on Indian tracks with uneven bounce would be a true test of his class and abilities. 

In bowling too, they have some brilliant performers like McGrath who is an excellent opener followed by Jason Gillespie both of whom didn’t tour India last time but have proved themselves around the world. Aussies in particular will be relying on these two to provide early breakthroughs which can be capitalized by the spinner Shane Warne and Collin Miller. Miller in fact cannot be put into any category. He can bowl in any way he likes depending on the situation, so the Aussies have another medium-pacer or a spinner or someone they want in the form of Collin Miller. Warne would surely not like to remember the last tour but to be fair he didn’t had any support then. This time he is much more mature and has McGrath to give him that initial breakthrough to come on and bowl. 

Has the list of their strengths finished? No wait! We have two other horses. One is an old warhorse - Damien Fleming and the other black horse – Michael Kasprowicz, both of whom had toured India last time.  While Fleming can be a handy bowler in a helpful condition, Kasprowicz can be a good change bowler and let's not forget that he was the one who had won them the Bangalore Test in their last tour. So all in all, Australians really seem, not to be lacking in any department. One last but not the least strength of our dear Australians - they really are the best in this department too – The Mental Warfare Department. Beware India!

Weaknesses: India is a different background all together and the pitches here are expected to be dead tracks. Australians are fully equipped in all the departments but the only thing that can destroy them is their over confidence which is visible from the way their players are talking prior to the series but it might just be the part of their strategy to unsettle the Indians.

Opportunities: The absence of India’s star bowler Anil Kumble would give Aussie batsmen a chance to overpower the Indians in the batting front. A huge total and quality bowling (which is not difficult for the Australian bowlers) would ensure victory for the World Champions.

Threats: Against India their major threat is Sachin Tendulkar, who has a great record against them. If the Aussies get through him then their chances of winning are more but currently it looks that all their bowlers are psyched by him as each one is planning his own strategy to tackle the master batsman, forgetting that India also has other batsmen who are equally devastating. 

Australia : Complete Test  Summary

Australia : Complete ODI  Summary

Click here to know who their Shining Stars and Dark horses could be ?

It will be a long time since; Indians will go in a home Test series with the tag of underdogs. It will also be the most important and the most hyped series since the last India–Pakistan Test series.  In fact it will be one of those series where Indians would love to retain the title of “ Tigers at Home“.

However things are not as simple as they look. In the past couple of years, the ground realities have changed. So, has the myth of Indian invincibility at home. India will have to play some exceptionally outstanding cricket to beat the Aussies.

Strengths: Talking about Indian batting, it seems as the galaxy of top-class batting. With a consistent Sadagopan Ramesh and the promising Shiv Sundar Das, India has a good pair to open the bat. Remember, in 1998, apart from Sachin’s heroics, it was Navjot Sidhu’s prolific batting at the top - which proved crucial. So, much will depend on Ramesh-Das pair to provide an ideal platform for the middle–order. In the form of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, India can boast of the best middle-order bat in the world. With Nayan Mongia (who is currently in form) back in the team and Javagal Srinath and Ajit Agarkar at the lower end, India’s tail is also more than handy.

In bowling department, the new ball attack is quite good if not same as that of Australia because of Srinath, Agarkar and Zaheer Khan. Specially, Ajit Agarkar’s ability to swing the old bowl may pose danger to the Australians. In spin too bowlers like Hirwani , Sanghvi and Harbhajan promise to fill the gap caused by Kumble’s absence. One bowler whom everybody is forgetting is Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin with his mixed bag of spin bowling will be interesting to watch. Also, in places like Calcutta and Mumbai, Saurav Ganguly’s gentle medium-pace will play a supporting role, as he did in 1998.

Indian Fielding has improved in recent times because of the infusion of young players. India must put specialist fielders in respective positions. Sachin and Laxman are excellent slip fielders while David and Shiv Sundar Das are admirably good at forward short leg and silly point.

Of course, it is the bowlers who win Test matches by taking plenty of wickets but to do that they need a good score to defend. So, the message is clear; if Indian batsmen can put a decent total then, the rest will fall in place, automatically.To beat the amazing Aussies, will be a daunting task, no doubt, but at the same time it is not as impossible as it seems.

Weaknesses: The biggest weakness is the lack of good spinners. Especially because spin has always been the stronger part of Indian bowling attack and India has always banked on its spinners to take it out of the difficult situations. With absence of Anil Kumble the Indian bowling attack has become hollow. The likes of Hirwani, Harbhajan and Sanghvi have not inspired much. The services of Anil Kumble will be truly and terribly missed. In fielding too Australians are much more active and efficient as compared to the Indians, hence the 20-30 runs saved will matter a lot as far as the result is concerned. Indians really have to be on their toes if they want to win.

Opportunities: The strong batting line up is the only strong point that goes in India’s favour. The much talked about pace attack of the Aussies may not be as ferocious on the dead Indian Pitches and that is where the Indian batsmen can mark the difference. Narendra Hirwani who replaces Kumble in the squad may turn out to be beneficial for the team as his performance has been good lately and the Australians have never faced him thus they are unaware of his bowling style. Another factor, which will play a major role in these series, is the ‘Mental War’. The more stable and confident team will have an edge over the other team. Currently Sachin seems to be the centre of attraction of all the Australian players and if he performs then it might disturb the mental balance and moral of Aussie bowlers.  Analytically speaking, if our batting clicks and is   ably complemented by the efforts of our bowlers then it won’t be difficult to overpower the Big Aussies.

Threats: The biggest threat that the Indian Team faces is its inconsistency in performing well. Their dependency on Tendulkar is way too much for their own good and his downfall results in the team’s downfall. The mighty Australians are playing great cricket and our scar-less i.e. they hardly have any weaknesses which the Indians can exploit, on the other hand there are many holes in our otherwise solid team structure. What the Indians must do is to fill up these vents in their bowling and fielding by performing exceptionally well in their batting and this definitely requires a big effort. They will have to pull up their socks to perform well.   

India's Complete Test Summary

India's Complete ODI Summary

Click here to know who their Shining Stars and Dark horses could be?\