Australia declared there second inning on 351/7 to set the Indians a mammothan target of 499 to win the first test at Melbourne. At the close of third days play Indians were 6/0 with Rahul Dravid batting on 3 runs of 30 balls faced and his partner Wasim Jaffer on 2 runs of 19 balls.
Both openers negotiated the remaining eight overs of play to take their wicket intact while chasing huge target of 499 for victory.
Earlier both Australian openers started from overnight score of 32 and put on another 51 runs before Mathew Hayden got out for well made 47 runs on the bowling of Harbhajan Singh.
Second man to go for Australia was captain Ricky Ponting who fails in successive two innings of this test match when he caught by former Indian skipper Rahul Dravid at first slip on the bowling of Harbhajan Singh for 3 runs.
Captain Anil Kumble got into the act to remove opener Phil Jaques who fell for his second straight half-century, before RP Singh struck to remove Michael Hussey (36) to stem the flow of runs.
However Half-centuries from Michael Clarke (73 runs) and Phil Jaques (51 runs), and handy contributions from the rest of the batting order Andrew Symonds (44 runs), Adam Gilchrist (35 runs) and Brad Hogg (35 runs*) ensured Australia were firmly on top of this test match as they were declared there innings on 351/7.
Now India needs another 493 runs in maximum 180 overs of play remaining in two days of test match to registered a famous win here at M.C.G but if Indian team wants to achieve this victory then there any of top two batsman (Sachin, Rahul, Ganguly & Laxman) have to play inning of their life to achieve this feet.
Unlucky Moments of The day
In third days of play Indian team found themselves unlucky, When Zaheer Khan bowled dangerous Andrew Symonds for 7 and all the Indian player start celebrating but it was not a ball of the match instead it was no ball. SO many times in Australian innings ball fell short of first slip or Wicket Keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and was ignored. A couple of overs later Zaheer over-stepped again and his loud lbw appeal was cut short by Billy Bowden's out-stretched arm. Anil Kumble did well to remain calm.
Australian pace attack destroyed the fame Indian batting line up with impeccable spell to bundle Indian 1st inning on mere 196. At close of play Australia were 32 without loss taken lead of 179 runs.
Brett Lee (4/46) and Stuart Clark (4/28) was pickoff the bowler for Australians, who make the in roads in the Indian batting line up.
Clark's accurate bowling was rewarded with the wickets of Rahul Dravid and a three-wicket burst that included Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the space of two runs, which wiped out any hopes of a revival.
Yuvraj was unlucky to be given out caught behind when the ball seemed to have missed his outside edge. Dhoni got a close decision before he had opened his account, as he stretched forward to a ball that swung in viciously and could very well have been given the benefit of doubt. Indian skipper Anil Kumble was also unlucky to be given out caught behind on the bowling of Brett Lee, while replay showing the ball was too far from his bat.
Earlier Indian team took 3 more overs of play to dismiss the last wicket of Australia for 343 runs. Zaheer Khan picked the last Australian wickets, when he got out Stuart Clark. Indian team started with new opening combination Rahul Dravid and Wasim jaffer. Openers Rahul Dravid (5 runs of 66 balls) and Wasim Jaffer (4 runs of 27 balls) struggled in the morning session in a painstakingly slow batting display, and the batsmen had only themselves to blame.
Rahul Dravid took 41 balls to open his account. Indian got onto lunch with 31/2. Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly restored some order with a 65-run fourth wicket stand before Tendulkar brought about his own downfall by playing on to his stumps after a classy 62 from 77 balls.
Only Saurav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble showed some resistance with the bat.
Indian skipper bowled a magical spell (5/84) on day I of first test against Australia at Melbourne to reduce them from 135/0 at lunch to 337/9 at stumps on Day1. The Boxing Day test match was milestone for the venue as well as former Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly who is playing his 100th test match.
Earlier Australian captain Ricky Ponting won the toss and decides to bat first on beautiful sunshine batting condition at Melbourne. Left-handed opener Matthew Hayden slammed his 19th century at home in an aggregate of 28 to shatter the great Sir Donald Bradman’s world record of three-figure scores on home soil in what is the 100th Test at the MCG and also the 100th for Ganguly.
Both Australian opener Phil Jaques (66 runs) and Mathew Hayden (124 runs) put on 135 runs for the first wicket before Indian skipper Anil Kumble gave first strike for his team, when he bowled googly to stumped Phil Jaques by M.S Dhoni. Zaheer then removed the dangerous Ricky Ponting (4 runs) with a superb delivery that moved away after pitching to dislodge the Aussie skipper’s off stump. Kumble came back to trap Michael Hussey (2 runs) lbw as Australia fell from 135 without loss to 165-3.
However Michael Clark (20 runs) and Mathew Hayden put on solid 60 runs partnership to get Australia back on track. R.P Singh removes Michael Clark to break the dangerous looking partnership and reduce the Australian total to 225/4.Three overs later Zaheer able to picked up dangerous looking century maker Mathew Hayden, when he gave simple catch to Rahul Dravid at mid-on.
Kumble strikes in quick succession to remove Andrew Symonds (34 runs), Adam Gilchrist (23 runs) and Brett Lee for duck to complete his fifth wicket haul.
Final playing XI for Both the teams
India: Rahul Dravid, Wasim Jaffer, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Saurav Ganguly Zaheer Khan, MS Dhoni (WK/VC), Anil Kumble (C), Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh.
Australia:, ML Hayden, Phil Jaques, Ricky Ponting (C), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist (WK), Brad Hogg, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Stuart Clark.
The first test match between India and Australia will begin from tomorrow (26th December) and all eyes on the Indian start batsman whether they will able to handle the pressure at M.C.G or not.
This test match will be an unforgettable date in Sourav Ganguly’s diary. The Boxing Day Test will be his 100th Test match. He will join the elite company of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble- all of whom have played 100 Tests. That he is going into his 100th match in scintillating form is the proverbial icing on the cake.
The message is out to the Aussies as far as the former skipper is concerned. He believes that India has a more balanced and battle ready team this time around to take the hosts on.
Australian team management has decided to go with three pace bowlers and one Spinner. That means Brad Hogg is likely to get the chance at M.C.G. The bowling will be led by Brett Lee, who was unfit in 2003-2004. There is Mitchell Johnson, who caused trouble in India during the recently concluded one-day series and Stuart Clark who has seamlessly fit into the role of an accurate bowler.
The Weather at M.C.G is not so promising and we may get interrupted test match at M.C.G due to rain.
Indian team management has already announced there 12 member squad from which they will pick final playing XI to play at Melbourne. All-rounder Irfan Pathan, new face Pankaj Singh, and wicket keeper batsman Dinesh karthik has been left out from 12 memebr squad. Surprise inclusion in 16 member squad when the team has been announced for the tour of Australia Virendra Sehwag has also been left out.
With Virendra Sehwag and Dinesh Karthik on the sidelines, the onus of opening the batting will fall on Rahul Dravid, who will accompany regular opener Wasim Jaffer.
It is going to be a toss up between rookie pacer Ishant Sharma and off spinner Harbhajan Singh for the final berth in the playing eleven. The final decision regarding the eleventh member will be taken in the morning of the Test match.
12 Member Indian Squad for Melbourne Test (Match will began from 05:00 AM Indian time)
Wasim Jaffer, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (Wicketkeeper, Vice-Captain), Anil Kumble (captain), Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, Harbhajan Singh.
Indian team started their super power series with three day tour match against Victoria. They were struggling at 38/3 before Rahul Dravid (33 runs) and Saurav Ganguly (51 runs) put on 72* for the fourth wicket and still going strongly.
Earlier acting captain M.S. Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first in a rain interrupted days of play. India got up to disastrous start when they loss their opener Wasim Jaffer with only 3 runs on the board. Jaffer who was in superb knock against Pakistan was out in trying to pull the bowl from outside off stump without troubling the scorer.
Second man to go was V.V.S Laxman who was out in trying to play the bowl fine and gave the simple catch to wicketkeeper. After dismissal of Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar arrives to the crease to give some sustainability to Indian batting. He looks in superb form in his 19 runs knock from 18 balls before bowled of a no ball. But umpire was not able to see that the ball was bowled far from the front line of crease.
The Mumbai batsman has been unlucky on a number of occasions in the past, but two lbw decisions in Australia stand out in memory.
During the 1999-2000 tour, Tendulkar was declared out by Daryl Harper when he tried to duck but got hit on the shoulder. Replays showed that the ball was too high. On India’s last tour, Steve Bucknor had declared Tendulkar lbw when the ball seemed to be missing the stumps and bowler Jason Gillespie too showed surprise at the decision.
Earlier Rahul Dravid and Wasim Jaffer came out to open the Indian inning. Virendra Sehwag was left out from the squad for this tour match.
Here are the lists of player playing in this match:
Victoria: David Hussey (captain), Nick Jewell, Rob Quiney, Aiden Blizzard, Aaron Finch, Andrew McDonald, Matthew Wade, John Hastings, Peter Siddle, Bryce McGain, Allan Wise.
Indian team who is flying high on confidence after winning test series by 1-0 against Pakistan after 27 years arrives in Australia for 75 days tour. India will play four match test series against the mighty Australia thereafter they will play commonwealth triangular series. Third team to be participating in the series will be Sri Lanka.
India will start with the tour match against Victoria XI from 20th of December 2007. India will play their first test match against the Australians from 26th December at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
In Year 2007 Indian team achieved a lot and they want to continue there good show in 2008 also by beating the Aussies at their home soil. In last couple of months Indian team improved a lot and able to achieve what they were looking for many years. They were able to beat England at their home soil and able to win the series by 1-0.
Last time when India toured Australia they were very close to winning the test series but Australians manage to drawn the test series by 1-1.
Under new Test captain Anil Kumble, though the Indians have form and plenty of thoroughbred class in their ranks, they are nonetheless likely to get exposed to the travails of alien quarters, not just from the hosts but elements within their own dressing room.
This season Indian middle order batsman looks in excellent nick and they have to perform in same way if they want to beat the mighty Aussies on their home soil. Sourav Ganguly capped off his comeback year hammering his maiden double-century and compiling 1000 runs for the first time in a calendar year, while Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman have all amassed runs in characteristic fashion.
The bowling attack, although inexperienced, has a curious ingredient of raw pace, something which has been lacking in touring teams of the past. In Rudra Pratap Singh, S Sreesanth (subject to fitness), Ishant Sharma and Pankaj Singh, India have got a healthy boost of pace in their ranks, besides Zaheer Khan who leads the bowling attack, and a certain Irfan Pathan, who could turn out to be a vital cog in the team's armour.
16 members Indian Squad for the test match series against Australia
Pace Attack: Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, R.P. Singh, Pankaj Singh, Ishant Sharma.
Spinner: Anil Kumble (C), Harbhajan Singh
India in Australia Schedule 2007-08
Thursday, Dec 20, 2007 : Tour match against Victoria XI at Junction Oval
26 Dec – 30 Dec, 2007 : 1st Test Match at M.C.G
2 Jan – 6 Jan, 2008 : 2nd Test Match at S.C.G
10 Jan – 12 Jan, 2008 : Tour match against ACT Invitational XI at Canberra
16 Jan – 20 Jan, 2008 : 3rd Test Match at Perth
24 Jan – 28 Jan, 2008: 4th Test Match at Adeilade Oval
After completing the four match test series with Australia, India will play triangular series involving SriLanka & AustraliaCommonwealthtriangular Series.
Saurav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh impose a record partnership of 300 runs for the fifth wicket to help India to reach 365/5 at the end of 1st days play against Pakistan at Chinnaswamy Stadium,Bangalore.
AT one stage Indians are struggling at 61/4 when both joined the crease together and played some mixed cricket with aggression and caution in the partnership of 300 runs in 393 balls which lasted for 252 minutes. Yuvraj Singh (169 runs of 203 balls) was more doinating in the partnership with Ganguly and he played some blistring shot all around the park with 28 fours and 1 six.
Ganguly and Yuvraj surpassed the previous best stand for the fifth wicket against Pakistan, of 200 between Ravi Shastri and Sandeep Patil at Faisalabad in 1984-85.
Yuvraj completed his third century of his test career and surprisingly his all three century came against Pakistan.
Ganguly, who completed his second consecutive hundred with a cover-driven four off Yasir Hameed, was going strong on 125 with 24 hits to the fence, while Dinesh Karthik (three) was the other not out batsman at stumps as India notched up the highest first day score at Bangalore.
Earlier Indian captain Anil Kumble won the toss and decided to bat first but India got of to disastrous start when they lost three quick wickets. Yasir Arafat playing his first test match picked all three wickets and reduces India score to 61/4 at lunch.
Match Summary (Day1)
India 1st Inning (365/5)
Yuvraj Singh – 169Saurav Ganguly – 125*
Yasir Arafat – 3/98
Mohammad Sami – 2/103
DayI Highlights – India Vs Pakistan 3rd Test Match 2007 at Bangalore
Pakistani all rounder Yasir Arafat who is playing in his first test match bowled a magical first spell to dismiss Dravid, Laxman and Jaffer to leave India tattering on 61/4 of 24 overs at Lunch.
Coming as first change Yasir Arafat get rid of Rahul Dravid (19 runs) as his first test victim then he remove double-century maker in the Kolkata Test Wasim Jaffer (17 runs) and VVS Laxman (5 runs) in his inspiring first spell in Test cricket.
However Saurav Ganguly (66 runs) and Yuvraj Singh (73 runs) kept his cool and put 142 runs for the fifth wicket till tea at day1 and Indians were 211/4.
Yuvraj Singh and Delhi opener Gautam Gambhir have been drafted in place of Tendulkar and Dhoni while Irfan Pathan and Ishant Sharma have come in place of Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel respectively.
Pakistan also made one change bringing in all-rounder Yasir Arafat for left-arm paceman Sohail Tanvir.
This will also be the 100th international match for former Sri Lankan batsman Ranjan Madugalle as the Match Referee of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Mudugalle was honoured with a memento by the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) president Srikanta Dutta Vodiyar during lunch interval.
A brilliant knock of 202 runs by Wasim Jaffer helps the Indian to pile up a huge score of 449/4 at Lunch on Day2 of second test match at EdenGarden, Kolkata. With Saurav Ganguly batting on 62 and V.V.S Laxman on 41 runs.
Mumbai batsman Wasim Jaffer played some classy shots with as many as 34 boundaries in his 274 balls knock. But soon after reaching his 2nd double century of his career he got out caught by Kamran Akmal on the bowling of Sohail Tanveer.
On Day1 Indian Captain Anil Kumble won the toss and decided to bat first on a pitch that was looking like batting paradise and promising to help spinners as the game progresses.
Dinesh Karthik was first to go in the very first over of Sohail Tanveer when he got him out in slip for one run. But Rahul Dravid (50 runs) and Wasim Jaffer held the fort for India as they put on 136 runs for the second wicket before Dravid was unfortunate to be given out by Billy Doctorate on the bowling of Danish Kaneria.
However dismissal of Rahul Dravid didn't affect free flowing Jaffer as he continued to play as he was playing and built another huge partneship of 175 runs with Sachin Tendulkar (82 runs).
The little master made the most of the lackluster Pakistan bowling attack as he bludgeoned 12 boundaries in his belligerent knock that brought his 47th Test half-century and his seventh against the arch-rivals.
Indian team is looking to wrap up the series at Kolkata itself, since they have never won test series at home against Pakistan after 1979.
With M.S Dhoni still to follow, Indians are looking to bat out Pakistanis from this test match.
