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Play naturally!

India have a tough call to win in Australia and they must not get involved in unimportant issues. In my experience, getting offside with umpires is a no-win situation. While umpires around the world can be annoying, they call the shots and invariably win. Unfortunately, over-appealing has become a fact of life and India are no better or worse than other countries.

My action when an Australian player complained about poor decisions was always direct and to-the-point. "Don't complain to me if you think you have had a poor decision, for you and your team mates have been appealing for everything to try and force the umpire into error." That it has backfired and you are the victim seems to me to be rough but deserved justice.

India too often allow unimportant issues to fester into obsessions, to their disadvantage. To win in Australia, they must have clear cut, undiluted minds and visions and sound tactics. Pakistan lost in Australia because they played too many bad shots and bowled too many bad balls. It was as simple as that and the Indians would do well to remember it. Neither must the Indian bowlers be carried away by the extra bounce in Australian wickets, nor should the batsmen expect balls to do the impossible. Australian wickets, like most wickets in the world, require good old-fashioned common sense to succeed on.

I have constantly been asked by Indian players and supporters as to what they have to do differently to succeed. My answer has always been, "very little". Play your natural game, judge the length of the ball and play the appropriate shot. The only shot the batsmen should avoid in Australia is the angled back-foot drive to the off and replace it with the shot they should be playing anyway: a good, old-fashioned square cut. Indian players prosper on the sub-continent pitches with the angled back-foot drive, but on the bouncier Aussie wickets, this shot generally only provides some catching practise for the slips fielders.

That said, India have the batsmen to cope with and prosper under Australian conditions. From what I have seen so far, however, they have been far too impatient and have generally been out to ill-conceived strokes. Sachin must show the lead in this regard. Though he rightly wants to dominate the bowling, he sometimes goes too hard too early. He doesn't need to do this for such is his talent that if he merely stays within his limits, he will score more than quickly enough.

While the pundits in Australia have been suggesting that the series will be decided by the battle between Sachin and Shane, I can't go along with that. The Australian new ball attack has been the main strike force for the team of late and I see the battle being fought along similar lines once again.

India won the last series in India because they didn't lose wickets early and the top order was there to tackle Shane when he came on. However, it won't be as easy in Australia against the new ball attack and it is here that the battle will be won or lost.

The Australian batsmen as a team have had a fantastic series against Pakistan but there were still times when they were five for not many runs and squeezed themselves out of trouble. India have a new ball attack that can cause problems, but they must be patient. I thought the quicker men bowled particularly well against New South Wales. All they have to do is show the same patience in Adelaide. Containing the 'excitement' and getting on with the umpires will be vitally important. I can't repeat often enough that nothing is achieved by over-appealing and questioning an umpire's decision. The task at hand is to stay focussed, enjoy your cricket and stick to your game plan.

India have the talent to win. Australian conditions are about the best and fairest in world cricket and India can turn them to advantage if only they use their talent judiciously.

Gameplan

Bobby Simpson