Predicting the final day of play in the Sydney Test match

The fourth Test match of the series between India and Australia has been brought alive by attacking play by both sides on the fourth day. The Aussies scored 251 for 6 in only 40 overs, giving their bowlers a good platform to attack on the final day.

Whirlwind Batting by the Aussies on the fourth day

They now lead by 348 runs with 4 second innings’ wickets intact. It was entertaining cricket at its best and Indian bowlers were meted out a good hiding. It is a good enough lead already as no side has scored more than 350 in the fourth innings to win a Test match in Sydney.

Early declaration on Day 5

Expect Australia to bat for a maximum of another 30 minutes and declare with a target of around 370-380 for India to chase. The Aussies would want India to go for the target as that would maximise their chances of getting wickets. The Sydney track is still pretty good for batting, and India under the aggressive Virat Kohli may look to go for the target to get a Test win in Australia after a long time.

Virat Kohli would shine again

The Indian chase would depend to a big degree upon Virat Kohli as he is one batsman capable of tearing apart any bowling attack on his day. And he seems to relish the pressure of a big stage. Expect a good show from him again on the final day.

Lyon will get a good old thrashing

One of the biggest failures of Indian batsmen has been how they have tackled Nathan Lyon in this series. They have failed to attack him enough and have allowed him to settle down way too often. Expect that to change tomorrow as the young guns would go after him and take him to corners of the ground.

Prediction

India would give Australia a run for their money on this flat Sydney track and the last day will have its share of excitements and hopes for both the sides. At the moment it is 60-40 in favour of Australia. However if Virat Kohli produces one of his best Test knocks of his young career, India might surprise Australia to win this one. Whatever happens, it is must watch Test match cricket on the final day.


Australia Test Cricket Records Vs India

The way forward for Indian Test cricket in the coming future

The Indian side has had great success in ODI and T 20 formats in the last few years and has been amongst the best sides in those formats. However our performances in Test cricket have dipped considerably in this time. We have lost all our overseas tours since 2011, and the one sided manner of most of those defeats has left a bitter taste in the mouth.

Causes of our Failure

So, what has hurt our cause in the longest format? For one, our fast bowling, which has for long been our Achilles Heel has continued to be problematic. The bowlers we have invested faith in, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami have failed to perform with consistency and venom for any long periods of time. We saw that in tour of England this year, when Bhuvneshwar Kumar started the series well against England, only to taper off badly towards the end.

Apart from this, Dhoni’s captaincy has been very passive on multiple fronts in the Test arena. Firstly, his team selections have centred on safety first approach. A prime example of that was preferring the economical but sedate Pankaj Singh over the fast but mercurial Varun Aaron early on in the series.

Tactically he was horrible in the series. A prime example was the second session of the third Test match of the series, when India led 1-0. In only the second session of the match, he made Jadeja bowl a negative line outside the leg stump to stop run scoring by English batsmen, rather than attacking them and going for wickets. It helped England get back the momentum in the series.

Need for an aggressive Captain

What India need now is an aggressive captain who can play for wins rather than taking a meek approach. Virat Kohli fits the bill perfectly and his aggressive approach to his batting will reflect in his captaincy also. He has enough experience playing at the top levels and now is the perfect time to hand over the Test captaincy reigns to him.

Need for Pace in Tests

Apart from that, India needs to play the fast guys in Test as pace is essential for success in Test matches. Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron need to be given a fair run in the Tests. If they can get their lengths right, then with their pace, they can cause a lot of trouble for batsmen, especially on pace friendly pitches overseas. If you can play Ishant Sharma for 50 Test matches, you can give these guys 20 matches, eh!

We hope the Indian Test cricket moves in the right direction in the future. Historically we have been poor in Tests overall, and rank at seventh position amongst top eight Test teams, when it comes to win-loss ratio in Test matches. It is time we breed aggressive fast guys in Tests and back the squad with a leader who can back them and play for winning matches, rather than saving them. Only then can we reverse our negative trend in Tests in this decade and become a great Test side.