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Target Tendulkar

It is hard to believe, given just how much international cricket we play these days, that India have not played a Test in Australia since February 1992. Back then, Sachin Tendulkar was not quite 19 years old, though already one of the most gifted young players in the game.

Now, eight seasons later, he is undoubtedly the finest batsman in the world, and in my view the single most important figure in the upcoming Test series. Developing a plan to counter his unique talent is top of our list of things to do before the battle begins. His clash with Shane Warne should be a beauty. Not that India is a one-man band. In Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, India have two more of the game's finest craftsmen, so we need to ensure that our strategy is much broader than simply planning to counter Sachin.

Bowling-wise, we knew long before he joined Jim Laker in the very exclusive 10-wickets-in-a-Test innings club that Anil Kumble was one of cricket's best spinners, while paceman Javagal Srinath is also highly regarded in the Australian dressing room. In a sense, this summer's schedule has worked well for India. We enjoyed bowling against Tendulkar and Co. on a bouncy pitch at The Oval during the World Cup, and would have welcomed the chance to lock horns at the Gabba in Brisbane or the WACA in Perth, which are Australia's two fastest tracks. But Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney all have excellent cricket wickets at the moment, so there will be no excuses.

Having five world-class players in their eleven makes India one of the world's toughest teams to beat, in any conditions. Whoever plays the better cricket will win the Test series. For our part, we're eagerly looking forward to the Tests, especially as we are coming off such a successful contest with Pakistan. In fact, the just-completed series was closer than the 3-0 scoreline indicated, but so many positives came out of it for us that we can't help but go into the first Test in Adelaide with our confidence sky-high. We're currently on a run of four consecutive Test wins - no mean feat in the modern, ultra-competitive game - and are hungry to keep the successes coming.

The top of our batting order was in outstanding form against Pakistan, a crucial factor in our victory given the quality of their pace attack. The aggressive way in which Michael Slater and Greg Blewett confronted Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar in the first Test in Brisbane in many ways set the tone for the remainder of the series, while we were all elated with the way Justin Langer fought back to be the unanimous choice as Player of the series.

Behind Slats, Blewey and Lang, the middle order has had its moments; everyone from four to seven has made a century in at least one of the four victories in our current run of success, while the bowling is looking good again, too. Our two aces - Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, have come back into splendid form, but it was Damien Fleming who was our best bowler in the three Test matches just gone. Add Michael Kasprowicz, who I thought went very well in his return to Test cricket in Perth and who has bowled superbly against India in the past, the versatile Colin Miller and any of the others fighting for that final bowling spot, and we have a bowling attack I wouldn't swap for any other in the game.

The last Test series Australia lost was against India, back in early 1998. We haven't forgotten, and realise that we need to win this series before we can truly claim to be the No. 1 Test-playing cricket nation. Revenge is not foremost in our thinking, but it is in the back of our mind. What we really want to do is maintain our winning form, and keep playing good, entertaining cricket. If we do that, and work out a successful plan to keep the great Tendulkar quiet, I believe we have much to look forward to.

Gameplan

Steve Waugh