They like their romance here, their bit of Bollywood. So it was all too easy for the interrogators at the tawdry stadium to focus on the meeting not of India and Australia, but of Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting, two superstars of the modern game. If you find the celebrity culture in the UK hard to bear, do not venture to the subcontinent.
Of course Ponting, ever-ready to discuss the quarter-final all India is talking about, does not see it like that. Nor, we assume, does Tendulkar, though he rarely addresses his doting followers.
These giants of the game have had contrasting experiences of this tournament. Ponting has appeared in the final every time he has been at the World Cup (this is his fifth). He has experienced defeat only once in a final – in Lahore against Sri Lanka in 1996. Twice he has raised the trophy to the skies as captain. Tendulkar, by contrast, now in his sixth tournament and we presume his last, has experienced just one final – in Johannesburg in 2003. Tendulkar scored 4, Ponting 140 not out.
Yet it is Ponting who is supposed to be under pressure, even if his relaxed demeanour did not suggest that. He reiterated that the rumours that he was intending to retire after the World Cup were "completely false. I'm enjoying my cricket as much as ever. Don't worry. Hopefully you will be seeing me playing more over the coming years".
Ponting was convincing when he said: "This [match against India] is one of the biggest challenges as captain and one of the most exciting with a packed house against a very good Indian team. We have to go out and play with freedom, with conviction. We have to play the Australian way. There is so much riding on this game. You don't get very far being apprehensive in a match like this."
Everything will stop in India for this game; it has attracted as much attention and interminable analysis as any final. Many wish it was the final.
It will be played on a track which should suit India, offering low bounce and a little turn, but at least the Australians are familiar with the ground. "It was quite a good surface against Zimbabwe," said Ponting. "It was slow and it spun a bit more in the second innings. It is also forecast to be 41C so it will be nice and hot."
The Australians were sending their coaching staff down to the ground at 8pm on the eve of the match to check whether there was significant dew. If minimal amounts are discovered then the anticipation is that Australia would like to bat first.
"We know that we are likely to face 30 overs of spin just as we are likely to bowl 30 overs of pace," he said. Thus there will be a meeting of two cricketing cultures epitomised by the uncomplicated speed and aggression of Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson, and the guiles of Harbhajan Singh and Ravi Ashwin, who is expected to retain his place.
Against the West Indies, MS Dhoni employed only one pace bowler in the first 24 overs. The Australians know what to expect as Ponting outlined how India have been using their best seam bowler, Zaheer Khan, in this World Cup.
"They bowl him for three or four overs at the start; then again around the 26th over to see if there is some reverse swing. Then they save him for the powerplay. He has taken the majority of his wickets when batsmen have been attacking him. We can either try to take him out of the game early on or be more cautious against him and get to the other guys."
Such candour is rare before a major match, though Ponting declined to name his side. The expectation is that he will stick with the usual bowling attack even though Jason Krejza has been unimpressive so far, but David Hussey may well replace Cameron White in the middle order.
Ponting was happy to volunteer this: "We are aware of the Indian players' records against us and there are some dramatic differences with their career records." This was a not very veiled reference to Virender Sehwag, who averages 22 against Australia in ODIs, as opposed to a career average of 35.
There is some doubt over whether Sehwag will play, not because of that record but because of a troublesome knee. Dhoni hopes he will be fit. So does all of India. So do the neutrals. Sehwag against the Australian pacemen will be worth watching in a contest which will be rather more engrossing than the first quarter-final.
Source: guardian
Of course Ponting, ever-ready to discuss the quarter-final all India is talking about, does not see it like that. Nor, we assume, does Tendulkar, though he rarely addresses his doting followers.
These giants of the game have had contrasting experiences of this tournament. Ponting has appeared in the final every time he has been at the World Cup (this is his fifth). He has experienced defeat only once in a final – in Lahore against Sri Lanka in 1996. Twice he has raised the trophy to the skies as captain. Tendulkar, by contrast, now in his sixth tournament and we presume his last, has experienced just one final – in Johannesburg in 2003. Tendulkar scored 4, Ponting 140 not out.
Yet it is Ponting who is supposed to be under pressure, even if his relaxed demeanour did not suggest that. He reiterated that the rumours that he was intending to retire after the World Cup were "completely false. I'm enjoying my cricket as much as ever. Don't worry. Hopefully you will be seeing me playing more over the coming years".
Ponting was convincing when he said: "This [match against India] is one of the biggest challenges as captain and one of the most exciting with a packed house against a very good Indian team. We have to go out and play with freedom, with conviction. We have to play the Australian way. There is so much riding on this game. You don't get very far being apprehensive in a match like this."
Everything will stop in India for this game; it has attracted as much attention and interminable analysis as any final. Many wish it was the final.
It will be played on a track which should suit India, offering low bounce and a little turn, but at least the Australians are familiar with the ground. "It was quite a good surface against Zimbabwe," said Ponting. "It was slow and it spun a bit more in the second innings. It is also forecast to be 41C so it will be nice and hot."
The Australians were sending their coaching staff down to the ground at 8pm on the eve of the match to check whether there was significant dew. If minimal amounts are discovered then the anticipation is that Australia would like to bat first.
"We know that we are likely to face 30 overs of spin just as we are likely to bowl 30 overs of pace," he said. Thus there will be a meeting of two cricketing cultures epitomised by the uncomplicated speed and aggression of Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson, and the guiles of Harbhajan Singh and Ravi Ashwin, who is expected to retain his place.
Against the West Indies, MS Dhoni employed only one pace bowler in the first 24 overs. The Australians know what to expect as Ponting outlined how India have been using their best seam bowler, Zaheer Khan, in this World Cup.
"They bowl him for three or four overs at the start; then again around the 26th over to see if there is some reverse swing. Then they save him for the powerplay. He has taken the majority of his wickets when batsmen have been attacking him. We can either try to take him out of the game early on or be more cautious against him and get to the other guys."
Such candour is rare before a major match, though Ponting declined to name his side. The expectation is that he will stick with the usual bowling attack even though Jason Krejza has been unimpressive so far, but David Hussey may well replace Cameron White in the middle order.
Ponting was happy to volunteer this: "We are aware of the Indian players' records against us and there are some dramatic differences with their career records." This was a not very veiled reference to Virender Sehwag, who averages 22 against Australia in ODIs, as opposed to a career average of 35.
There is some doubt over whether Sehwag will play, not because of that record but because of a troublesome knee. Dhoni hopes he will be fit. So does all of India. So do the neutrals. Sehwag against the Australian pacemen will be worth watching in a contest which will be rather more engrossing than the first quarter-final.
Source: guardian
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