“I don't rate the opposition teams in any pecking order. India are and have been a very good opponent of ours. If you look back over the last few series played, we have played some very entertaining, tight, tough Test cricket. I'd expect this Test series to be nothing different from that,” Australian captain Ricky Ponting said, a day before the first Test at the MCG.
“They played well in Australia the last time they were here. Their batsmen certainly batted well in Australia. But I think we have learnt from all those things. Everytime we have played them, we have learnt a bit more about some of their senior players. It will depend on how we adapt our game plans to what we know going into this game.”
At the same time, Ponting was wary of India's seniors coming to the party. "It's those senior guys that series after series stand up and get the job done. I'm sure India will rely heavily on their senior players this trip.”
Ponting said Australia had perhaps erred in over-attacking when the Indians had toured in 2003-04. "The last time, we did over-attack some of their players just the little bit. Back to Adelaide in particular (where India won famously by four wickets), we probably let them score a few too many runs there and then switch quickly around. The beauty of technology is we should know every one of their players. If you look to the way we played against India last time (in India in 2004), we bowled a bit differently. We have lots of different plans and it all revolves around the conditions. But we will attack them enough, don't worry about that!”
Under-cooked
India's bowling might appear a touch under-cooked, but Ponting wasn't going down that road. "If you look back to England, which was one of the more famous Test victories India have had, their bowlers won them the series," he pointed out. "They swung the ball, RP Singh and Zaheer were very good. All our batters have had a look at what they have done and what they can do. For me as a captain, I have to make sure I have all facets of our team in order.”
And on to his own bowling. "We've certainly got firepower now with Brett bowling in career-best form. He was outstanding against Sri Lanka. Mitchell Johnson impressed everybody in the two Tests against Sri Lanka. Stuart Clark’s Test record at the moment is as good as any going around. I'm very confident our attack will take 20 wickets every Test this summer. We've got good variation with Brett bowling express pace, Mitch bowling high pace with the left-armer's angle, Stuey being incredibly reliable and hitting the seam. Our attack has great variation and skill.”
The nature of the track has prevented the Aussies from buttoning down their eleven. "We don't have a team yet," Ponting pronounced. "We are waiting to see if the wicket bakes up. It is still very, very damp. We could go either way (four seamers or the lone spinner), we just have to get the team right according to the conditions.
"It's Boxing Day, we'll have a big crowd, India are great opponents. Put all that together, and you can assure yourselves Australia will be on song when they take the field tomorrow.”