Ticking odometer

It's the mileage, not the years.
Dr. Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark

From the far flung corners of the Indian cricketing empire comes the same cry of anguish - the Indian team is full of old people. Well, how true is it really? The numbers actually tell a slightly different tale. The two teams - Australia and India - are remarkably similar in age profile (see chart below).Additionally, what is striking is that the Indians have an enormous advantage in terms of experience. On paper, this should be a mismatch, right? Then why is India the team playing catch-up in the first Test after just two days? The reality is not quite so straightforward.

a) Look at the Australian side. Of the 11 in the team, only Stuart Clark can be considered to be a liability in the field. If Clark was in the Indian side, he'd probably be one of the shining lights! Ponting, Clarke, Watson, Lee, and White are world-class fielders. Matthew Hayden is as good a slip fielder as any in the game today, and the remaining players are no slouches in the field, either, who need to be "hidden". Contrast that with the Indians. Gautam Gambhir is the only one who even remotely resembles a spring chicken that can field. Dravid and Laxman are brilliant slip fielders, Tendulkar is a safe fielder especially in the outfield, but the rest are nothing to write home about. Forget the Aussies, I'd fancy my chances of pinching runs if I had to bat to this Indian fielding line-up.

b) "Experience" is a much-bandied about world, but over the first two days, the team that looked like it knew what it was doing was the Australian one. The Indians were in a safety-first mode. Aggression was non-existent. Singles were on offer throughout the day. The spin bowlers, the supposed aces in the pack, were supposed to be the overwhelming factor that tipped the scales India's way. There is plenty of time left in the Test to redress this balance, but with experience comes another baggage - the fear of failure. And the Indians have too many players under the gun to play with Sehwagian abandon. I hope I am proved wrong by them.

c) The first innings is already done, but I shall wager anyway that Cameron White, on debut no less, will have better bowling analyses than Kumble and Harbhajan (with over 900 wickets between them) put together.

Think of it this way, how many of you can say with 100% conviction that Kumble-Singh will outbowl White in this Test match? Can you? I cannot and that thought is putting the fear of all things holy and unholy into me.