I miss Veeru

India lost the first test match on the Australian tour. The last time around, we had done pretty well and had come pretty close to winning the series. I would be surprised if something like that happens this time around. The team does not look quite the same. The big guns are still there and Sachin, Sourav and Laxman are in good form. Yet, something is missing.

Looking back at the batting performance on the previous tour, two things stood out....Rahul Dravid's performance and the opening partnerships. Both look shaky on this tour. Dravid, for reasons unknown, is not his usual self. He is opening the batting and clearly not enjoying it. For me, Dravid is the backbone of the Indian test batting line-up and losing him early in the innings means being on the backfoot from the start.

We had done well on the previous tour because of steady starts given by Sehwag and one Mr Akash Chopra. The guy got a raw deal. Though the guy never went on to hit a century on the tour but he used to ensure that we do not lose wickets early on. That used to give confidence to the other batsmen. Anyways, thats past. On this tour, we are trying the combination of a Jaffer and Dravid. To me, both have pretty similar batting styles. Jaffer does go for his shots but still they are not the kind of batsmen who can dominate the Australian bowling attack. And in Australia, if you go on a defensive, you are digging your grave.

I think that India should have gone with Sehwag as one of the openers. He is indeed short of match practice but still Veeru is the kind of batsman who, on his day, can dominate any bowling attack. We need such a batsman in the side. I am surprised that he did not make it to the playing eleven even for the second test. His batting technique (technique!!! can we use that word for Sehwag's batting style?) was questioned on the last tour as well. He answered all doubts with a breezy 195. Thats the kind of innings that we need.

My opinion is that India should go with Jaffer and Sehwag as openers and Yuvi should sit out. I really dont think that Yuvi is the right choice for Australian conditions (he can prove me wrong at Sydney as the pitch usually is pretty flat over there....I will be more than glad if he does that). If the team management is adamant at playing Yuvi, then they can as well try the combination of Sehwag and Dravid on the top. If Sehwag clicks, that will atleast take the pressure off Dravid.

I seriously do not think that we have a chance in this series but like always, I will be praying for a miracle.