***Official*** India in Australia

[pup11]

Nah, disagree TBH. Harris took 5-179 in his Test, conceding 3.03-an-over; Giles was economical in Bangalore by bowling often miles outside leg and did reasonably at Ahmedabad on a slow turning surface but it was only 1 Test; Afridi somehow got 5-43 at Bangalore but again - just 1 game; MSP and Udal when they got decent figures bowled mostly at tailenders and the Jaffers and Yuvraj Singhs, who are less acknowledged masters of spin; and Price bowled OK in 2001\02 but he's a far, far more accurate operator than MacGill, and those pitches seemed like proper Indian turners, there's no way he'd cause any great problems on less spin-friendly surface.

I agree with all the above scenarios and with your explanation about the same, but on lots of occasions the Indian top-order gets cleaned up by the quickies leaving nothing much for the spinners to do, and my point is that Indians are rated so highly when it comes to playing spin but still they hardly dominate spin bowling the way they used to do a few years ago, and if Hogg replaces MacGill then Hogg is definitely not going to be a sitting duck as a lot of people are mentioning on the contrary i think Hogg could be a big threat for Indian batsmen because they haven't looked too comfortable facing him in Odi's.

 

[iamdavid]

What makes you think that whoever plays instead of MacGill would get hammered, they might pick a spinner (which i am pretty sure they would) or a fast bowler instead of MacGill and lets be honest Indians aren't as good as they once were against spin bowling they hardly use their feet against spin bowling and bat tentatively against spin that's why even ordinary spin bowlers have been able to tie them down time and again off late and if Australia go in with a quickie Tait/Hilfenhaus then they are also very capable on ripping through the Indian batting line-up, so if MacGill misses this series chances of his comeback would then be extremly bleak..

I was reffering to a spinner replacing MacGill and getting taken to pieces as Tait and Hilfenhaus arent really competing for the spin spot in the Australian squad, and there will always be a spinner in the frame even if (god help us) they revert to playing 4 quicks regularly.

Paul Harris in South Africa, MSP and Shaun Udal in India, Ashley Giles in India (02), Ray Price in India, Afridi and Kaneria in India (05) have all had tasted decent success against the formidable Indian batting line-up who are supposed to be the best players of spin.

As Richard said alot of those performances were in India on far more helpful surfaces than will be encountered this summer. The next best spinner after MacGill (Hogg) is arguably as good as Harris, Giles, Afridi and Kaneria however he's been hugely inconsistent at FC level, I havent been against the idea of him playing test cricket in the past, but against India on Australian wickets, to see him have a big impact would really suprise me...far more than him getting slaughtered. And after Hogg we get into the likes of Cullen, Heal, Simpson, etc who are largely not upto FC standard let alone playing tests against India.
I know they arent the batting side they were 5 years ago, but most of the elements who dominated spin throughtout the late 90's and early 2000's are still there (mainly Tendulkar and Laxman) and despite their age they seem in pretty ominous form right now.

 

[Salamuddin]

If Hogg gets a chance in the tests, it will be pretty interesting to see how he goes....

India didn't play him all that well in the Odi's but it's a different scenario in the tests - the pressure of having to get runs off every ball won't be there.
It'll be very interesting to see if Hogg is capable of translating his ODi success into the longer format.

 

[pup11]

If Hogg gets a chance in the tests, it will be pretty interesting to see how he goes....

India didn't play him all that well in the Odi's but it's a different scenario in the tests - the pressure of having to get runs off every ball won't be there.
It'll be very interesting to see if Hogg is capable of translating his ODi success into the longer format.

As i have said before Hogg and MacGill are Australia's only two realistic spin options in test cricket for the next two or three seasons, MacGill is way ahead of Hogg in class as far a test cricket is concerned but MacGill' fitness is a big problem for him and on the other hand not only is Hogg fit but he also seems to be bowling the best he has ever done in his career.
So its a tough call that the selectors need to make whether they stick with MacGill or give Hogg another chance at the test level.

 

[Salamuddin]

As i have said before Hogg and MacGill are Australia's only two realistic spin options in test cricket for the next two or three seasons, MacGill is way ahead of Hogg in class as far a test cricket is concerned but MacGill' fitness is a big problem for him and on the other hand not only is Hogg fit but he also seems to be bowling the best he has ever done in his career.
So its a tough call that the selectors need to make whether they stick with MacGill or give Hogg another chance at the test level.

I honestly reckon that Hogg may be more of a threat to India than MacGill.
Macgill copped an absolute pasting from India last time round and I can't see how he's improved in 4 years.
Left arm wrist spinners are pretty rare - particularly so on the subcontinent - Hogg may cause the Indians some problems.
Of course its quite conceivable that India will work Hogg out but I just can't see macgill unduly troubling India.


Either way the key battle is probably going to be the the Indian batsmen v the Aussie pace attack.

 

[Salamuddin]

No way. Ganguly has been in great form in Tests since his comeback. He batted beautifully in England and emerged with very good figures even with some pretty poor decisions against him. I wouldn't think of dropping Ganguly now.

One Bengali sticking up for another I see, eh Arunava ?

 

[Dasa]

Haha nah, Ganguly's not even my favourite player in the Indian team at the moment.

 

[Salamuddin]

Haha nah, Ganguly's not even my favourite player in the Indian team at the moment.

Who is ?

 

[Dasa]

SRT all the way.

 

[Pratters]

SRT all the way.

Best poster.

 

[Prince EWS]

Best poster.

Indeed. Top use of syntax.

 

[alternative]

Meh...

Ganguly all the way tbh.

 

[pup11]

Does anyone else also think that Noffke has done enough to break into the Australian test team or do you guys think its a bit too early for that.
IMO he would be a much better option than Symonds as not only would he take workload off the backs of the 3 front-line quicks but he can also be a genuine wicket taking option and as he has shown in this season he can be more than handy batting at 7.

 

[Prince EWS]

Does anyone else also think that Noffke has done enough to break into the Australian test team or do you guys think its a bit too early for that.
IMO he would be a much better option than Symonds as not only would he take workload off the backs of the 3 front-line quicks but he can also be a genuine wicket taking option and as he has shown in this season he can be more than handy batting at 7.

No-one is going to get dropped. Noffke can Katich can average 1000 with the bat and 10 with the ball each, but no-one is going to get dropped from the side unless their own performance drops off. I don't rate Symonds at all, but he hasn't done anything wrong in the last series or two so he'll keep his place.

 

[iamdavid]

And there are still a few questionmarks over Noffke with the bat, he's certainly done very well this season, but for his entire career up until now he's only been a number 8 at first class level and its a huge step up from first class number 8 to test match number 7 (or even 6 as some have suggested).

 

[Richard]

People have seriously suggested Noffke as a Test six or seven?!

 

[pasag]

People have seriously suggested Noffke as a Test six or seven?!

How much current domestic stuff do you follow to laugh at the notion?

Btw, Dravid FTW.

 

[Richard]

How much current domestic stuff do you follow to laugh at the notion?

Plenty. I could tell you Noffke is no more than a decent lower-order bat without even needing to take a second look.

 

[pup11]

Plenty. I could tell you Noffke is no more than a decent lower-order bat without even needing to take a second look.

Whatever you might think it can't be denied that he would be far more handy compared to Symonds in the current Australian test team.

 

[NUFAN]

No-one is going to get dropped. Noffke can Katich can average 1000 with the bat and 10 with the ball each, but no-one is going to get dropped from the side unless their own performance drops off. I don't rate Symonds at all, but he hasn't done anything wrong in the last series or two so he'll keep his place.

If Katich averaged 1000 with the bat and 10 with the ball I think he'd get selected ahead of MacGill tbh.