India must get to grips with Ben Hilfenhaus and the rest of the Aussie pace attack if they are to claim a consolation win in Adelaide, says Jo Harman.
It was a case of more of the same for a despondent India at the WACA, as the tourists were swept aside inside three days by a rampant Aussie bowling attack and fell to their fourth innings defeat in seven matches.
Virat Kohli’s sledge to Dave Warner in this midst of the Aussie opener’s blitzkrieg rather summed up the problems within the Indian camp. During his innings of 180, Kohli told Warner that he wouldn’t find life quite so easy when he came to the sub-continent. Given that Warner had just equalled the record for the fourth fastest century in Test history and won’t be touring India until February of next year, he unsurprisingly wasn’t too fazed by the comments.
If India are to rouse themselves and claim a consolation win in the fourth Test at Adelaide they will need to start living in the here and now and come to terms with the fact that Test cricket involves being taken out of your comfort zone. And that means finding a way to counter Australia’s seamers.
English fans who witnessed Australia’s attack repeatedly being put to the sword last winter would have been bemused to hear Virender Sehwag’s comments in the lead up to the final match of the series. “I think it’s the best bowling attack I’ve ever seen, especially against Australia,” said the out of form opener.
In the absence of the injured James Pattinson, the attack that took to the park in Perth was largely the same one that England disposed of with such ease in the last Ashes series. That Sehwag should speak in such glowing terms of an attack featuring Ben Hilfenhaus perhaps betrays the crisis of confidence crippling India’s batsmen, but it also demonstrates how dramatically the Tasmanian’s fortunes have changed over the past year.
Against England last winter, Hilfenhaus took seven wickets in four matches at an average of 59.28 and went through long spells where he never looked like taking a wicket. Three matches into the series against India he has 23 wickets at 16, catapulting him into the top 10 Test bowlers in the world for the first time in his career. So, what’s changed?
During the last Ashes, the perception was that Hilfenhaus had become something of a one-trick pony, down on pace after a niggling injury and swinging the ball straight from the hand, giving England’s batsmen plenty of time to choose their shot accordingly. At the end of series he was axed from the side and sent back to state cricket to sharpen up his game and learn how to take wickets again.
After working hard with Tasmanian bowling coach Ali de Winter to add more subtlety and variation to his game, the results started to show. “Hilfy is someone who needs to see the results before he believes something, but there is no doubt I think if he can learn to use the crease a bit more, come from wider and angle in before taking it away, he will not need to swing it as much as he thinks he needs to,” said his state captain and Australia’s newly appointed Twenty20 skipper George Bailey.
And the results have been immediate on Hilfenhaus’ return to the Test side and, while India’s batsmen have played a significant role in their own downfall, he appears to have rediscovered the zip that saw him finish as leading wicket-taker in the 2009 Ashes. Messrs Anderson, Broad and Tremlett might have something to say about Sehwag’s claim that Hilfenhaus is a member of the world’s best attack, but the Tasmanian workhorse has undoubtedly added some steel to Australia’s battery of seamers and with his pack of pacemen is such fine form and India’s confidence so low, Michael Clarke will fancy his chances of turning over India for the fourth match on the trot at Adelaide.
India Must Counter Resurgent Hilfenhaus In Adelaide
India must get to grips with Ben Hilfenhaus and the rest of the Aussie pace attack if they are to claim a consolation win in Adelaide, says Jo Harman.
It was a case of more of the same for a despondent India at the WACA, as the tourists were swept aside inside three days by a rampant Aussie bowling attack and fell to their fourth innings defeat in seven matches.
Virat Kohli’s sledge to Dave Warner in this midst of the Aussie opener’s blitzkrieg rather summed up the problems within the Indian camp. During his innings of 180, Kohli told Warner that he wouldn’t find life quite so easy when he came to the sub-continent. Given that Warner had just equalled the record for the fourth fastest century in Test history and won’t be touring India until February of next year, he unsurprisingly wasn’t too fazed by the comments.
If India are to rouse themselves and claim a consolation win in the fourth Test at Adelaide they will need to start living in the here and now and come to terms with the fact that Test cricket involves being taken out of your comfort zone. And that means finding a way to counter Australia’s seamers.
English fans who witnessed Australia’s attack repeatedly being put to the sword last winter would have been bemused to hear Virender Sehwag’s comments in the lead up to the final match of the series. “I think it’s the best bowling attack I’ve ever seen, especially against Australia,” said the out of form opener.
In the absence of the injured James Pattinson, the attack that took to the park in Perth was largely the same one that England disposed of with such ease in the last Ashes series. That Sehwag should speak in such glowing terms of an attack featuring Ben Hilfenhaus perhaps betrays the crisis of confidence crippling India’s batsmen, but it also demonstrates how dramatically the Tasmanian’s fortunes have changed over the past year.
Against England last winter, Hilfenhaus took seven wickets in four matches at an average of 59.28 and went through long spells where he never looked like taking a wicket. Three matches into the series against India he has 23 wickets at 16, catapulting him into the top 10 Test bowlers in the world for the first time in his career. So, what’s changed?
During the last Ashes, the perception was that Hilfenhaus had become something of a one-trick pony, down on pace after a niggling injury and swinging the ball straight from the hand, giving England’s batsmen plenty of time to choose their shot accordingly. At the end of series he was axed from the side and sent back to state cricket to sharpen up his game and learn how to take wickets again.
After working hard with Tasmanian bowling coach Ali de Winter to add more subtlety and variation to his game, the results started to show. “Hilfy is someone who needs to see the results before he believes something, but there is no doubt I think if he can learn to use the crease a bit more, come from wider and angle in before taking it away, he will not need to swing it as much as he thinks he needs to,” said his state captain and Australia’s newly appointed Twenty20 skipper George Bailey.
And the results have been immediate on Hilfenhaus’ return to the Test side and, while India’s batsmen have played a significant role in their own downfall, he appears to have rediscovered the zip that saw him finish as leading wicket-taker in the 2009 Ashes. Messrs Anderson, Broad and Tremlett might have something to say about Sehwag’s claim that Hilfenhaus is a member of the world’s best attack, but the Tasmanian workhorse has undoubtedly added some steel to Australia’s battery of seamers and with his pack of pacemen is such fine form and India’s confidence so low, Michael Clarke will fancy his chances of turning over India for the fourth match on the trot at Adelaide.