The sun is hot in Chennai, but the Australians know it well

Preview by Amit Varma at Chennai22-Jun-2005

Adam Gilchrist: exuding a quiet confidence that speaks of exhaustive preparation and planning© Getty Images
The sun is hot in Chennai, but the Australians know it well. They have played some tough games here – they tied a historic Test in 1986, when Chennai was Madras and Dean Jones battled fatigue, cramps and dehydration to make a double-century. They were beaten in 1998, when Shane Warne followed up 4 for 85 with 1 for 122 as Sachin Tendulkar followed up 4 with 155. And they were beaten again in 2001, heartbreakingly so, when a win in the first Test at Mumbai wasn’t enough to win the series, and a Matthew Hayden double-century in the first innings wasn’t enough to make up for what Harbhajan Singh did to the other batsmen. This time, though, it is different.”Just as the Indians are hungry for success,” said Adam Gilchrist on the day before the Test, “so are we.”The Australians have come come to India chastised by their loss last time, and having learnt from their mistakes. They showed as much at Bangalore, eschewing all-out attack, for so long their chosen approach to the game, for a more considered way of playing. They have a plan for every bowler, and in how to maximise the conditions – and nowhere was this more apparent than in Adam Gilchrist’s abstaining from playing the sweep until he had made 87. They have a plan for every batsman, and the men to execute that plan to perfection, as Glenn McGrath demonstrated by bowling as well as he ever has – and that is saying a lot. There wasn’t a single weak link in the Australian side, and not a man who didn’t know what his job was, or lacked the ability to do it.When you play in Chennai, of course, you don’t just play the other side, you battle the conditions as well. “It [Chennai] is more demanding physically,” said Gilchrist. “If you’re physically exhausted, mentally you start to whine as well. We’re aware of that. We’ve played a lot of cricket on the subcontinent now, and we fully understand and expect the conditions to be tough, and hopefully we’ve prepared appropriately.”Gilchrist wasn’t worried about the pitch either, which is expected to take more and more turn as the match goes along, and offer substantial bounce to the bowlers. “There’s a lot of talk about the extra bounce in the wicket,” he said, “which is obviously going to pose more of a threat for us. Harbhajan and Anil [Kumble] are spin bowlers who rely as much on bounce as on sideways movement. Hopefully it’ll have a positive effect for Warnie, and I feel without doubt that it’s a positive thing for our fast bowlers. We’re born and bred on bouncier tracks.”There has been much talk that the toss in Chennai may be crucial, but both Gilchrist and Sourav Ganguly brushed that suggestion aside. “Whether you bat first or second,” said Gilchrist, “you have to score a big total in your first innings. You can’t allow a huge gap between you and your opposition. I think that’s where we won the game in Bangalore, not only in scoring 400 but by bowling the Indians out in the first innings.”Ganguly, speaking to reporters after a net session, reiterated that point, saying that the toss would not decide the game. “To win a Test, you have to put 400 on the board in the first innings.” But while these words mirrored Gilchrist’s, his demeanour did not. Gilchrist was calm and assured when he met the press, while Ganguly seemed in a hurry to get it over with. Gilchrist was clear about Australia’s game plan and team composition, Ganguly was anything but.”Kaif will play,” he said, when asked about the team, and when asked to elaborate, he said that Kaif would “bat in the middle order”. While Ganguly would not be drawn on whom Kaif might replace, murmurs from within the Indian camp indicated that Aakash Chopra was likely to make way. The buzz was that Yuvraj Singh would open with Virender Sehwag. Gilchrist was sanguine about that prospect. “We’ve got a plan for Yuvraj,” he said, “wherever he bats in the order.”Ganguly does have another stopgap opening option open to him: Parthiv Patel opening. Yuvraj and Patel, incidentally, were the first two Indian batsmen to get a session in the nets in the morning. Of course, India’s bevy of out-of-form under-confident batsmen wasn’t Ganguly’s only problem – he had effectively been a bowler short at Bangalore, with Zaheer Khan bowling in a lacklustre manner, perhaps lacking full fitness, certainly lacking intensity. But Ganguly refused to accept that the Indian bowlers had fallen short and, when asked if Ajit Agarkar would replace Zaheer, insisted that Zaheer would play.Despite the conditions and the heat – not Chennai’s worst, more sapping than searing – Australia are favourites to win the second Test. Everyone in their side performed well at Bangalore, while India carried passengers. Ganguly’s batsmen were diffident, and his bowling attack was one good man short. Of course, India have been in just such a position in the past, against Australia, and they have fought back. But Australia are prepared for it this time.”I’ve been in this situation before,” said Gilchrist, “where they’ve had a loss, and a lot of ex-players have come out and spoken harshly of them, everyone’s got an opinion on them, who should go and who should stay … we’ve been here before, and we’ve seen them fight back.” But Australia, Gilchrist insisted, were more prepared this time. That hot wind, well, it can huff and it can puff but the Aussies will not let it blow their house down.