'Underestimate Aussies at your own peril'

It is the most anticipated clash in recent memory. Some of course are calling it the world championship. This is the big heavyweight bout for the right to be called world champions of cricket. This is India versus Australia.

Javagal Srinath, a veteran of many battles against Australia, Harsha Bhogle, India's premier cricket commentator, and former South African batsman Daryll Cullinan, whose battles with Australia are the stuff of legends joined in the debate on Love of Cricket to answer Can India reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy?

But the Australians themselves are not banking on their teammates to pull it off yet again. Former Australian spearhead Glenn McGrath, for one, warns in a newspaper column: "I feel this is India's best chance to get back the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. While I still back my team, there are a few youngsters who will be playing in India for the first time. The four key players will be Ponting, Clarke, Hayden and Brett Lee. The latter will have to lead the pace attack, and while he is an experienced campaigner, he is yet to play a single Test in India."

Asked if the Australians are edgy coming into this four-Test series, Daryll Cullinan says, "I think they are going to feel that their crown is slipping, if they were entirely honest with themselves. They would feel that they are up against it, the conditions for a start; a long series. They haven't performed particularly well against the Board President's XI.

"But they might be happy with the 'underdogs' tag going into this Test series. But any Australian side is going to be competitive. They have got vast experience, and the likes of Ponting, Hayden and Co. have that ability under pressure to rise to the occasion. I think India would underestimate Australia at their own peril," he adds.

Asked if this was the world championship of Test cricket, well-known commentator Harsha Bhogle said: "I would want to contest that if I was English, but what I find interesting about this series is that Australia seem to be downplaying their own ability, which is very rare. When you land in Australia, the first thing you hear from the likes of Glenn McGrath saying 'they will win 5-0', and 'you guys have no chance' and newspapers also endorse that. You walk into a 'you've-got-no-chance' atmosphere.

"It's interesting that when they come to India, like they did in 2004, they are portraying a rather more defensive angle. I wonder if they'll play a bit more defensively. But I completely agree with what Daryll says, that anybody who thinks they are going to win against Australia before the series starts, has got to be very careful. As a team you have to believe you can win, but you cannot underestimate Australia. And I don't agree with the view that India start favourites in this series," Bhogle observed.

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