Fast Bowlers Lost Confidence - McCullum, Brendon

The New Zealand captain in the 3rd ODI and the vice captain of the New Zealand team accepted that the confidence of the Kiwi fast bowlers has been demolished by the devastating batting by the Indian batsmen.

"I suppose from their perspective it would have knocked their confidence a little bit. It could happen when you go around the park like we did in the last couple of games. It is not a nice thing to happen for fast bowlers," said McCullum.

"It is a skill issue of not being able to execute their plans. Or it maybe a mental issue with being apprehensive and almost trying too hard not to get hurt rather than just trying to grab the ball and do as well as you can."

"We just have to try and execute the plans that were set out for us. So far, in the last couple of games we haven't quite been exact enough with our execution."

"The mental approach against such a strong batting line-up can make you a bit apprehensive so we need to try and relax and implement the plans that we've got in place because we know they do work," he added

(excerpts from msn.co.in)

"We managed to put them under pressure. We saw some pretty big hitting in the end as well. Obviously, they will be a little wary, knowing that the wicket is good and the ground is pretty small."

"They will have to be exact in their plans. If we can get some momentum with the bat and put them under some pressure then there's no reason why we can't post a big score and possibly win," he said. Will Tendulkar's absence make any difference to New Zealand? "I am sure it does, but they have still got Sehwag, Dhoni, Yuvraj and Raina. So they still have a pretty strong batting line-up. We saw how well Sachin played the other day. To know that he will not be in the side will be a lift for our bowlers," he said.

"We will welcome him back with open arms, especially me. It will be great to have him back in the fold. His experience and skill will be handy," McCullum said.

"Jacob's progressing really well. It is just a matter of being a little bit cautious with his body. He is obviously gone through a lot of niggles and injuries over the last few seasons. So we just have to be a little cautious with that."

1st Test, Day 3: India v. Australia: Bhajji and Zaheer fight back for India!

With the top order letting down once again, except the retiring man Ganguly and Dravid, the remaining two VVS Laxman and Tendulkar once again failed in scoring runs for India. After Gambhir dismissed by Lee on the morning of Day 3, Sehwag and Dravid were expected to play sensibly. Dravid played slowly and steadied his innings. But, Sehwas soon fell chasing a wide delivery which took the bottom edge and flew to Hayden at slip. India lost two wickets after in quick succession.

Tendulkar came in and played positive shots. He scored 3 boudaries in his 13 and fell for a slower ball from Johnson. He was caught at covers when he did not read the slower ball and checked his shot. Laxman was out for a duck caught behind of Johnson.

India were 133 for 4 at lunch with Dravid batting on 35 and Ganguly on 7. Dravid cross his 50 off 102 balls with 7 fours. He fell immediately at 51, LBW to Johnson. This was a doubtful decision and should have favored Dravid than Johnson.

With the last recognizd pair in the crease with the scoreboard 155 for 5, it was all left to Ganguly and Dhoni. They added 40 for the 6th wicket before Dhoni was beaten and bowled by Michale Clarke. Out of the 40, Dhoni scored 9 off 51 balls.

Ganguly stayed solid at one end but couldn't reach his half-century. Though he is getting retired after this series, he played sensibly and should applaud his efforts. When he got out for 47 off 115 balls with 3 fours (trapped LBW by Johnson), the score was 232 for 7. Ganguly and Harbhajan added 37 for the 7th wicket and the follow-on was avoided.

Everyone thought the innings would get over soon and in fact thought India would not score 231 to avoid the follow-on. But, things didn't go as per Australia's plan and it was tackled well by Harbhajan and Zaheer Khan.

Bhajji scored his third consecutive test 50 against the Aussies. He scored 63 each in Sydney and Adelide and crossed 54 in Bengaluru. He tried to cut the half valley but it took the edge and went to Haddin, the keeper. He scored 54 off 110 balls with 5 fours. He surprised Lee, Clarke and Johnson when he stepped out to play them.

When Dhoni got out, it was 66th over. Everyone thought Kumble would come out next, but he sent Bhajji. Ganguly and Bhajji tackled another 70 balls before Ganguly was out on the 71st ball.

Then Bhajji and Zaheer added 80 runs for the 8th wicket and the important thing was they played neat cricket and did not show anywhere that they are tail-enders. Another key point is that they played out the overs which irritated the Aussies. The bowlers were frustrated as the day progressed. Both Harbhajan and Zaheer played 22 overs together for their 80-run stand. Harbhajan was caught behind of Watson for 54. During their stand, rain prevented play for sometime, but they resumed the innings.

Kumble and Zaheer played the rest of the day before umpires awarded the lights in favor of batsmen. They played just 9 balls after Bhajji's dismissal which Bhajji could have played himself and reduced further lead for Aussies.

Test: 1st Test
Venue: Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
Dates: October 9-13, 2008
Teams: India and Australia
Hosts: India
Captains: Anil Kumble and Ricky Ponting
Toss: Australia

Score at the end of Day 3:

Australia 1st Innings 430 all out in 149.5 overs (ML Hayden 0, SM Katich 66, RT Ponting 123, MEK Hussye 146, MJ Clarke 11, SR Watson 2, BJ Haddin 33, CL White 6, B Lee 27, MG Johnson 1, SR Clark 0 not out, Extras--15 (lb 11, w 1, nb 3), Z Khan 29.-4-91-5, I Sharma 30-7-77-4, Harbhajan Singh 41-8-103-1, A Kumble 43-6-129-0, V Sehwag 6-0-19-0)

Fall of Wickets: 1-0 (Hayden, 0.3 ov), 2-166 (Katich, 54.4 ov), 3-226 (Ponting, 78.4 ov), 4-254 (Clarke, 89.2 ov), 5-259 (Watson, 92.3 ov), 6-350 (Haddin, 122.6 ov), 7-362 (White, 126.5 ov), 8-421 (Lee, 147.5 ov), 9-429 (Johnson, 149.1 ov), 10-430 (Hussey, 149.5 ov)

India 1st Innings 313 for 8 in 101 overs (G Gambhir 21, V Sehwag 45, R Dravid 51, SR Tendulkar 13, VVS Laxman 0, SC Ganguly 47, MS Dhoni 9, Harbhajan Singh 54, Zaheer Khan 35 batting, A Kumble 0 batting, Extras--38 (b 23, lb 10, nb 5), B Lee 21-5-49-1, S Clark 17-3-58-0, M Johnson 20-4-62-4, S Watson 15-3-37-2, White 13-2-39-0, M Clarke 15-2-35-1)

Fall of Wickets: 1-70 (Gambhir, 19.2 ov), 2-76 (Sehwag, 22.6 ov), 3-94 (Tendulkar, 28.4 ov), 4-106 (Laxman, 32.6 ov), 5-155 (Dravid, 49.5 ov), 6-195 (Dhoni, 65.4 ov), 7-232 (Ganguly, 77.3 ov), 8-312 (Harbhajan Singh, 99.3 ov)

Click here to read Day 1 Report

Click here to read Day 2 Report