First of all, Merry Christmas to our wonderful readers at IndiaBet.org, we wish all the happiness to you and your family on this wonderful day. Now back to cricket!
The Boxing Day’s Test at the MCG in Melbourne has historically been the greatest day for Test cricket, year after year. A big holiday crowd in full festive spirit is expected to their in full strength, as Australia take on their new big rivals, India. As we approach the Boxing Day, the question on everybody’s mind is, can Australia make it 4-0?
As Steven Smith, the new Australian captain says, “Four-nil would be nice, but you got to take each game as it comes.” Well, at IndiaBet, we fully expect 4-0, as we have no expectations whatsoever from an Indian team whose captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni seems completely uninterested in Test cricket. Win or loss, it doesn’t really matter to Mr. Dhoni. Have a look at this completely tepid response to the terrible defeat at Brisbane:
MS Dhoni: “What’s more important is to play good cricket and I feel we are doing that. But we are not crossing the line, which is vital in five days of Test cricket. We feel we are close, but at the same time it will have to reflect in our performance.”
This is hilarious. The team has been beaten, humiliated, destroyed and has lost 6 straight Test matches and our captain still talks about the importance of good cricket, and how his team is doing just that! This is akin to the CEO of a Wall Street firm that has been destroyed by the financial crisis, such as, say, Lehman Brothers, talking about it all being alright as what was important was to work hard and that they were doing that, and they were reflecting a lot as well, so nobody should complain too much!
Clearly, as long as Dhoni remains the captain of the Indian team, they might as well be written off as serious contenders for any Test matches played outside the subcontinent. No passion, no determination, no focus, nothing.
Australia are without Michael Clarke, and are a completely new team, but look well and truly under control. With Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood giving excellent support to pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson, the attack looks superb, with even Nathan Lyon looking effective against the Indians. The batting has come good as well, as everybody has contributed.
There really isn’t much to talk about when it comes to the Indian bowling – it has been patently poor. There is nothing positive we could say about them whatsoever. The batting hasn’t clicked either, except for a few good knocks by Virat Kohli and Murali Vijay.
There is a great feeling of frustration and even depression among Indian cricket fans, who wake up early in the morning to watch their side play, only to see them throw the towel time and time again. There seems to be no end in sight to this humiliating run of defeats for the Indian cricket team in Test matches outside the subcontinent.
Team news
For Australia, we expect a debut from young Joe Burns, in place of Mitchell Marsh, who is injured and Ryan Harris to play in place of Mitchell Starc.
Australia: 1 Chris Rogers, 2 David Warner, 3 Shane Watson, 4 Steven Smith (capt), 5 Shaun Marsh, 6 Joe Burns, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Ryan Harris, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Nathan Lyon.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar should be back for India. Batsmen KL Rahul and Suresh Raina are fighting for spot, but unlikely to get on
India : 1 M Vijay, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Rohit Sharma, 7 MS Dhoni (capt,wk), 8 R Ashwin, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar/Varun Aaron, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Ishant Sharma.
Match Conditions
Melbourne has a drop-in pitch which is great for seam movement and also reverse swing later because of its abrasive surface. We expect a mild and pleasant weather, and no rains.
Watch the match live on Star Sports at 5:30 AM from 26-30 December.
