Time for India to break 300+ jinx
Posted on Oct 04, 2007 at 09:38 | Updated Oct 04, 2007 at 09:47
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Tags: cricket, india, australia
New Delhi: The benign pitches of the subcontinent and the experience of scoring big in Twenty20 - the time could not have been more ripe for India to break 300+ jinx against Australia. India will be desperate to do this in the presentseries though they will be fighting history to do that.
In the history of the ODIs between these two countries, every time Australia have posted a 300+ score against India, they have gone on to win it (Except one No Result at Bangalore on Saturday).
India’s task becomes even tougher if we take the margin of Australian victories. Whenever Australia have scored more than 300, India have got a massive beating.
In such cases, the lowest loss margin for India has been 61 while the highest pegged at 208. So in that sense, the verdict at Kochi should not be a surprise. It was in keeping with the trend.
Australia versus India before the present series (When Australia scored 300+) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia 1st Innings | Victory Margin | Season | Venue |
| 320/9 | 162 | 1983 | Nottingham |
| 329/5 | 152 | 2000 | Adelaide |
| 338/4 | 93 | 2001 | Vizag |
| 359/2 | 125 | 2003 | Johannesburg |
| 347/2 | 61 | 2003 | Bangalore |
| 359/5 | 208 | 2004 | Sydney |
In fact, the average margin of defeat (excluding the present series) has been 134 runs and if we include Kochi, it is still 126. That is quite a beating!
Did the absence of Sourav Ganguly make a difference at Kochi? In fact, it would not have even helped reduce the margin. In five such matches against Australia (300+), the former Indian captain has entered into double figures only twice (the highest being 37).
If we include statistics from the present series, five star batsmen – Sachin, Sourav, Dravid, Sehwag and Yuvraj have only four fifties from 25 innings when facing Australia’s 300+, and just one score between 40 and 49.
Their cumulative average stands at a meager 27!
Top Indian batsmen against Australia facing 300+ (Including Sehwag and Ganguly)
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batsman | Innings | Runs | Avg | 50s |
| Virender Sehwag | 3 | 133 | 44.3 | 1 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 7 | 216 | 30.9 | 2 |
| Rahul Dravid | 6 | 182 | 30.3 | 1 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 5 | 78 | 15.6 | 0 |
| Yuvraj Singh | 4 | 58 | 14.5 | 0 |
So chances do not look very bright if the Australians are allowed to run up a 300+ score again. On past record, India have just two options.
Relentlessly attack Australia with more catching options in the inner ring and prevent them from scoring 300. Or else bat first. Incidentally, Australia have also not won the matches where India batted first and made 300+, though they have certainly not lost by such big margins.
May be, Sehwag can also be tried in one of the matches as on his day, he does have the calibre to give India the initiative with his sheer stroke making. India can post some wins in this series only by being adventurous, and not just with words!
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