India would be happy playing Sri Lanka rather than Australia as their tour so far has been a nightmare.

By Jaideep Ghosh

The good news for India is that they meet Sri Lanka, not Australia. The bad news is that they meet at the WACA. The really bad news is that with Lasith Malinga, it doesn’t matter where you are playing.

India would be desperate to find some positives from their current Australian tour. One T20 win, a convincing one, doesn’t make a summer (an Australian one that is).

While we were all sniggering at the Aussies for getting out within 20 overs in the T20 match at Melbourne, getting out in less than 30 overs, even in a truncated match, as in the first ODI of the CB Series, isn’t such a great feat either.

Our boys always have trouble with fast bowlers abroad. Let’s face it, this isn’t going to change. Not now, not in the future. So India will struggle abroad.
But the match at Perth has a brighter side. Sri Lanka would be playing their first match in Australia this time around and the Indians, battered and bruised, at least have the advantage of knowing the conditions better.

Plus, the Lankans, for all their undoubted skill and talent, aren’t quite Australia. They don’t have this unending supply of fast bowlers who keep at it – Mitchell Starc, Clint McKay, Daniel Christian, the works.

They do have Malinga, who never seems to have any problem settling in. Especially since he needs the pitch only to land his feet while bowling. But his support team is moderate at best.

One is tempted to suggest that the Lankan spinners won’t be such an issue, but the Indian batting can make the worst of even a good situation, their proclaimed comfort against slow bowling can become complacency, disrespect, and panic, as the situation changes.

Also, there is no supply line of fasts here. Vinay Kumar has done well, but his partners would be Praveen Kumar and Virat Kohli! Wonder when and how Kohli became a bowler who bowls in more than one match a season.

The spin department was taken to the cleaners by Australia at MCG. R Ashwin, R Sharma (both variants) and R Jadeja were destroyed, the ‘R’ in their respective names ultimately translating into ‘Runs’.

S Raina, the alphabetical successor, bowled just one over.

But let’s face it. Rahul Sharma is a greenhorn, but has shown promise. Ashwin, touted as the next best thing after chocolate truffles, has been targeted for special treatment so far, and has found no answers.

But the body language isn’t bad still. The youngsters are fighting, which doesn’t always translate into winning. But high time they put a price on the world champions tag. No better place to start than against the runners-up, is there?