World Cup 2015: Spinners Can Help India Beat Australia At The Scg, Fee

[ARYA]

World Cup 2015: Spinners can help India beat Australia at the SCG, feels Misbah

Wisden India Staff | Mar 21, 2015 at 09:48am IST

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Having played both India and Australia at the Adelaide Oval during this World Cup, Misbah-ul-Haq is excellently placed to judge the two teams ahead of their semifinal clash at the Sydney Cricket Ground on March 26. Pakistan's captain didn't exactly hold out a prediction, though he did warn Michael Clarke's team that because the game was at the SCG, India had as good a shot at victory as the home team.

"Both sides are playing really good cricket. It is going to be a really tough match. They're both in form," Misbah began, then batted for India in his own manner. "India have also got a chance because they are playing in Sydney, and the Sydney pitch, everybody knows that there's a little bit in it for the spinners. Both of their spinners (R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja) are really bowling well and their batting is really in form. It will be a tough match."

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Australia, Misbah added, would be handicapped in not having what he called a 'good' spinner. Xavier Doherty, the left-arm spinner who is the only specialist tweaking option, has played just one game in the World Cup, while Glenn Maxwell has filled in with his offbreaks. "They will miss a good spinner," Misbah insisted. "That could be the difference there because what I've seen in the past games and when we played against England there, spinners got success on that pitch. Imran Tahir got some wickets against Sri Lanka (in the quarters). So that could be a problem for Australia, and also playing against spin, they might just be in trouble there."

Michael Clarke looked astonished when he was told what Misbah had said a few minutes earlier. "I don't think a ball spun in the game we played against Sri Lanka. I think it'll depend on what wicket gets prepared. The game that was played there recently looked like it had a bit of grass on it, so that'll certainly help our fast bowlers if the wicket is like that," he countered. "If it does spin, we've got spinning options in our squad, so I'm sure the selectors will assess that once we get to the Sydney Cricket Ground and work out what they think is the best 11. I've got confidence that whatever 11 is selected, we play our best cricket, we give ourselves every chance of winning that game in whatever conditions."

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Insisting that he was 'extremely satisfied' with the spinning options at his command, Clarke went on, "We obviously didn't pick Xavier Doherty today, but I think he's been a really good spinner for the Australian team over the last few years, so if the wicket does spin, I think the selectors have that option. Obviously you've got Glenn Maxwell, who bowled tonight and picked up a couple of wickets. Hopefully I can bowl a few overs, and we've got Steve Smith, as well. We've got spinning options, but we'll wait and see what the pitch is like."

Already then, the SCG pitch has come under focus. India won't be expecting a turner, but if they get one, they won't be complaining. And if there is life for the faster bowlers to exploit, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma have shown that they can exploit it quite nicely, thank you. But what will the groundsman throw up? Any guesses?