Ricky Ponting’s progress will be closely watched

Amidst the headlines captured by the common wealth games, as it draws nearer , there is some cricket being lined up as well .The Australian team is here to play two tests , followed by three One Day Internationals .Both Mohali and Bangalore , venues for the tests should be able to hopefully produce result.

The last time India played Australia at Mohali, Australia were handed a heavy defeat of 320 runs margin and that should certainly give them a lot of confidence .India enjoy a good record at the PCA stadium in Mohali, only losing to the West Indies in the first match played on this ground, while the ground has produced five draws out of nine matches played.

With Bangalore also reciting the same tale of eight draws out of seventeen tests played so far, it should be interesting to note that the declaration might just be an important factor to compel a result .While India has rewarded Cheteshwar Pujara’s form and consistency at the domestic level , his name would only be in the team sheet if there is an injury amongst the top six in the batting line up .Suresh Raina would occupy the number six slot after his fruitful tour of Sri Lanka , with Sachin Tendulkar Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman constituting a potent middle order.

The last time India played Australia in 2008, Dravid had a forgettable series aggregating 120 runs at an average of 17.14 in 7 visits to the crease. While Rahul Dravid would be aware of that statistics and keen to settle the scores with the Australians, runs in this series would pep up the confidence to do well against south Africa and New Zealand in future .The batting would determine the winner in the series as Australians would have done their homework on Virender Sehwag continues to get attention of the opposition .

The Australian spin department looks suspicious with no real match winner and one wonders what happened to Jason Kreja after his 8 wicket burst in Nagpur, during the last Australian trip in 2008.

It would be also an important series for Ricky Ponting. Ponting’s last ton came nine months back against the Pakistan and he is showing signs of decline already and this series well might ascertain if the time is ripe to hand over the captaincy reins to Michael Clarke. He averages 40 in the last ten test matches and looks a far cry from the batsman he once was, with 209 coming in a single outing to the crease, way below his career average of 54.66.

From an Indian standpoint, Harbhajan Singh, doubtful starter for the Mohali test would be wondering how to bring that strike rate down, as he appears to have lost his wicket taking ability.

Shane Watson has started of f the tour in style with back to back hundreds and should give Indians food for thought.

A series win in India will give tremendous tonic to Ricky Ponting for his next high profile assignment. He must have spent endless time mulling over the combinations to register an Ashes win on his illustrious resume.

Yuvraj Singh is down but not out!

The selectors have once again showed who is in charge by showing the door to Yuvraj Singh. Though it can be argued that he was always living on borrowed time, Yuvraj was given far too many opportunities at the test level to translate his promise as a fine one day batsman to mature number six for India, after Saurav Ganguly left the international scene.

Yuvraj Singh always had the style and flamboyance and may have won many matches for India, However he always was an uneasy batsman finding it difficult to get his bearings in the longest format of the game often confused with the pace of scoring runs .Yuvraj Singh, just 29, would believe that he might have got the wake up call at the right time, after having a sedate tour of Sri Lanka in July where he was unwell and the indifferent form did not help the cause either. However it is worth pondering if the route is some what identical to what Ajay Jadeja traversed, having played 15 tests over the 9 years as an international cricket, dazzling only at the One day format, only time will tell.

With Rahul Dravid ,VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar well in the twilight zone , Yuvraj will have to quickly scale up to the test level , as the breathing space just gets tougher , with the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara , Rohit Sharma , Virat Kohli captivating the selectors , as good investment option for the future .It is interesting to note that even if Yuvraj would been a part of the squad picked for the home series against Australia , would he be in the playing eleven , now withstanding the form of Suresh Raina.

Given the flair and the success Yuvraj enjoyed at the international level it is quite easy to forget that test cricket can be very rude surprise, but remains the sought after thing on the resume of a international cricketer.

On the more positive side, Yuvraj, the one day batsman will probably play a more significant role in the upcoming world cup in the subcontinent .Have the selectors dropped a hint to Yuvraj to concentrate on getting amongst the runs in the one day format?

Yuvraj Singh has a lot of work to do for sure.