The three Tests old terrifying young bowler of Australia, James Pattinson has the perception that the Indian batsmen are scared of the calculated express bowling of the home team in the ongoing series.
India lost the first Test at Melbourne by 122 runs when the pace trio of the Kangaroos put them in the corner and they surrendered on 169 runs in their second innings. Pattinson destroyed their batting by grabbing four wickets in the last innings, accumulated six in the match and was declared ‘Player of the match’. His co- fast bowlers Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle held seven and six wickets respectively which made a tally of 19 wickets for the pace trio in the match.
Indian batting was due for a fight back in the second Test at Sydney Cricket Ground but once again they looked on the back foot in their first innings after their Captain MS Dhoni preferred to bat on January 3, 2012. Their innings was folded back on 191 runs and they had no answer to the lethal bowling of Australia.
Pattinson was once again unplayable and he got rid of their star batsmen Gautam Ghambhir, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman. Hilfenhaus and Siddle assisted him well and especially their lower order batsmen were exposed once again and three tail enders could not open their accounts. Pattinson believed their aggressive approach towards the game was the force to conquer one of the best batting line ups in the world. He said,
“The bubble around our bowling attack is amazing for the fact we’re playing against such high-class opposition. We’re just up for the challenge even more. If you come out on the day and don’t bowl so well they can put you right on the back foot.”
The two master blasters of India, Sachin Tendulkar and Laxman had a wonderful record against the Kangaroos prior to start of the recent series. Tendulkar has shown his promise to some extent by scoring 73, 32 and 41 runs in three innings but Laxman has failed completely and managed 2, 1 and 2 runs.
Rahul Dravid had a excellent summer in 2011, against England on the seaming tracks and thrashed 461 runs at an average of 76.83 with three hundreds but scored 68, 10 and 5 in three outings. The opening pair of Ghambir and Sehwag produced stands of 22, 17 and 0 in three associations.
Pattinson has clinched 10 wickets in three innings against India and was pleased with his performance. The Australian bowlers are bowling in the right areas and the loose balls are hard to find by the Indian batsmen and moreover, they looked intimidated which Pattinson described as,”I think they’re probably intimidated about the way we’re bowling, the areas we’re bowling, we’re not giving them any loose balls. For them they’ve probably got it in their mind ‘where are we going to score’, because they’re not getting any loose balls at the moment. Intimidation comes with us bowling really well.”
The fast bowlers of Australia have provided their team a solid stand for the second consecutive victory against India and they can anticipate another positive result in the second Test.
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