Yes, that was what Tendulkar said in his post-match interview, available on ABC Grandstand.

http://blogs.abc.net.au/grandstand/files/sachin_tendulkar_iv.mp3

To some extent I buy it too.

However, while I could understand that strategy when he was playing against Harbhajan Singh and even R. P. Singh I only raised it when he started playing in a similar vein with Ishant Sharma.

As Sachin Tendulkar says in the ABC interview, the strategy raised nearly 180 runs. So why question it? Fair enough…

– Mohan

On the contrary, I thought it was brilliant tactics by Tendulkar to take singles even though they may have been in the early part of the over. With 6 to 7 fielders on the boundary, boundaries would have been hard to come by. Instead of playing out an over and taking singles in the 5th or 6th ball, Tendulkar allowed Harbajan, RP, and Ishant to take chances since the field was not spread out. This tactic appears to have worked quite effectively. Of course, it is a different matter altogether if it had not worked. Also, by adopting such a tactic I think Tendulkar has in some ways raised the confidence of these three players immensely.

Just a thought…

Apropos the glove-banging ritual photograph, before today, Ishant Sharma had only played in 17 first-class matches, 12 innngs, 10 not-outs, and made 15 runs having faced 69 balls! Today, in his 3rd Test match, he faced his 5th ball in Test cricket (74th ball in first-class matches and Tests combined), scored 23 runs off 34 balls! He faced half the total number of balls he has faced in first-class cricket up until now and almost doubled his overall first-class score!

Amazing

Mohan

http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ausvind/content/current/gallery/328991.html

I don’t think Rahul Dravid said India needed to tame Australian arrogance. I think he said, at the end of the Adelaide Test match in 2003 that the best way to win against Australia was, in a sense to play to their arrogance. Here is a link to an interview with Harsha Bhogle who refers to Rahul Dravid’s comment (http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2003/s1015998.htm).

Dravid may have said something about Australian arrogance at the start of this current series and I may have missed it though.

– Mohan

It was something that popped up while I did a google search.

I think Symonds twisted his ankle sometime during the morning session and that is probably the reason why he is not bowling.

On the fielding front, it is not only OZ newspapers, but even cricinfo that sucks. When the Indian team misfield, they come up with some wisecrack but when it is the OZs, they only come up with “OZs are having an ordinary day inthe field”.
BTW, can you suggest something that would help reduce my jaw pain? I have been smiling from ear to ear for the last 1 hour and people in the office are looking at me like I am a wierdo plus it hurts too.