There was a time when India Pakistan series used to generate lot of interest because there was lot of passion involved and players from both the teams used to give it everything for a win and the results were there everybody to see because lot of matches were won by either team in close, tense finishes. However now India Pakistan rivalry is history and what millions of fans around the world are eagerly waiting to it is Australia's tour of India in October 2010.
Australians have a hectic schedule wherein they are required to play 2 test matches and 3 one dayers between 1st October 2010 to 24th October 2010 which means there will be 13 days of cricket in 24 days and going by the schedule one gets a feeling that the tour was not planned but squeezed in between considering the fact that India Australia series have generated lot of interest in the last decade or so. The first test will be played at Mohali between 1st October to 5th October while the second test of the two test series will be played at Bangalore between 9th October 2010 to 13th October 2010. The 3 one dayers will be played in coastal cities of Kochi, Visakhapatnam and Margao on 17th, 20th and 24th October 2010.
While India are the favourites to win the test series as anything can happen in one dayers considering it is the performance on a given day that counts the series will project a healthy internal competition among in the Indian team especially in the teams. While Australian team have only a solitary star in Ricky Ponting, Indian team has a galaxy of stars in master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, the dasher Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, M S Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir and infact all of them will be competing with each other to prove he is the best and team India is going to be most beneficiary from this battle.
Australian bowlers would have been working overtime even before the commencement of the tour to work out a plan for Sachin Tendulkar who has taken a heavy toll of them in the last two decades and to complicate matters further V V S Laxman has not spared them either. The biggest problem for the Aussies is that even before they start worrying about Sachin and Laxman there is Sehwag at the top of the order who has taken a heavy toll of all the bowlers ever since he made is debut. As far as bowling is concerned both teams have depleted attacks and the key to India winning the series is by amassing huge totals in the region of 600 plus and getting them at quick time so that bowlers have the luxury of a imposing total behind and that extra time at that disposal to work out 20 wickets. The bowlers need not worry about planning 20 dismissals as there will be some free wickets in the form of loose strokes and run outs.
As far as Ponting and Sachin are concerned they have lot of personal milestones to look for as the 35 year old Ponting would be looking to catch up with Sachin in terms of centuries and runs while Sachin Tendulkar would be looking to inch closer to 100 centuries in international cricket and make it that difficult for Ricky Ponting to chase his records.