Aussie juggernaut rolls on

The Aussie juggernaut continues to roll. Steve Waugh's men, confirming their awesome form, crushed Pakistan at Melbourne and Sydney, to clinch the Carlton and United Trophy. The entire series, though interesting to watch, was lop-sided, with the home team looking virtually unbeatable.

In the league stage, Pakistan did display some fight, defeating India thrice and Australia once. It was a different story in the finals, with the Aussies calling the shots.

The manner in which Australia annihilated its opponent in the second final proves Pakistan is quite vulnerable. With the top- order batsmen short of runs, it was the Pakistan lower middle order that did the bulk of the scoring in the series.

The Pakistan bowling has enough variety, but clearly wilted in Sydney, when confronted by a set of batsmen who were determined to knock the cover off the ball. And under pressure, the fielding too looked ragged.

The Aussie batsmen were positive in their approach, with the top three putting their feet on the accelerator. The end result showed the benefits of adopting such methods. One has noticed that even on those occasions when the Aussies lose early wickets, the later batsmen score at a brisk pace so that the run- rate does not slacken. In other words, the heat is on the men bowling at them all the time.

In similar situations, the Indians invariably get bogged down, making life miserable for the ones following them. It has been repeatedly written in this column that at least a couple of Indian batsmen should go after the bowling so that the pressure is on the bowlers.

Coming back to the Aussies, skipper Steve Waugh, who has nerves of steel, is always there at No. 5 or 7 to steady the innings, just in case there are early jolts. The never-say-die Steve has consistently performed this role over a period of time, and is someone who is truly reliable.

At Sydney, Adam Gilchrist, in a high octane display, propelled the Aussies to a blazing start. After his exit, Ricky Ponting, played a superb knock in the fast forward mode, even as Mark Waugh, rotating the strike cleverly, helped himself to yet another half century.

Indeed, there was no respite for the Pakistan bowlers as Steve Waugh and Andrew Symonds, maintained the run-rate. While the canny Steve depended on subtle nudges, with the occasional big hit thrown in between, Symonds was a picture of raw aggression. It almost seemed he was keen on sending the ball from Sydney to Perth! And Shane Lee and Damien Martyn, useful customers both, threw their bats around in the end overs to take the Aussies to a daunting score of 337.

Australia does possess wonderful balance in the one- day side with specialists such as Bevan, Symonds and Shane Lee, who, apart from being stroke-makers, can bowl their quota of overs and, of course, field brilliantly. The Aussie fielding has been exceptional in the series with almost all the returns finding the target.

The fact that the dangerous Adam Gilchirst opens the batting, provides the team the invaluable option of either accommodating a strike bowler or an all-rounder, depending on the situation.

Michael Slater is well suited for over-limit battles, but is unable to find a place in the one-day side, just as Michael Bevan struggles to make it to the Test eleven.

In the Indian side, only Robin Singh, who, apart from being a lion-hearted batsman and bowler, is a fine fielder too, would possibly qualify as an one-day all-rounder. The others are simply masquerading as all-rounders and the Australian tour has certainly left them exposed. One sincerely hopes the Indian team learns from its mistakes.

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