India’s poorest record among all home venues is in Bangalore, while Australia have enjoyed the conditions here
Madhusudhan Ramakrishnan08-Oct-2010India’s thrilling one wicket victory in the first Test gives them an unassailable 1-0 lead in the two match series, and given their track record in defending series leads at home, Australia have an unenviable task ahead: since 1990, India have taken a series lead 16 times (minimum two-match series) and relinquished it only on four occasions, the last coming against England in 2006, when they lost the final Test in Mumbai.The second Test, though, is being played in Bangalore, which is one of India’s least successful venues. India last won a game at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in 1995 and have lost four of seven Tests played since. In contrast, Bangalore has been one of Australia’s best venues in India: they have won two of their last three Tests here, and dominated the previous encounter in 2008 which ended in a draw.
OppositionPlayedWonLostDrawAll teams18468All teams since 19909243Australia4022India’s poor record in Bangalore can be seen by comparing their overall batting and bowling performances at various home grounds over the last couple of decades. Kolkata remains India’s best batting venue, closely followed by Delhi and Mohali. The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai hasn’t been a good venue for the batsmen – it hosted an extraordinarily low-scoring game against Australia in 2004 – but has been an excellent ground for Indian bowlers. Bangalore, on the other hand, has been pretty tough for batsmen and bowlers. India have conceded more than 400 runs in the first innings in each of the last four matches played in Bangalore, and their bowling average there is the highest among all venues.
GroundMatchesRunsBatting Average100s50sWicketsBowling average5WI10WMKolkata10605543.87162217231.70113Delhi8437141.6282314326.3772Mohali10545440.10133016033.3670Chennai10443638.2492615430.2092Ahmedabad8439736.94121512033.7083Bangalore9435431.7871913336.7091Mumbai (Wankhede)8354925.7151813924.3240Among the Indian batsmen in the current squad, only Sachin Tendulkar, who is closing in on 14,000 runs in Tests, and Virender Sehwag have performed well in Bangalore. While Tendulkar scored a superb 177 in a loss against Australia in 1998, Sehwag’s double-hundred in the Test against Pakistan also failed to prevent defeat. Rahul Dravid averages just 21.69 on his home ground, and hasn’t scored a single century in 13 innings. VVS Laxman has been India’s best batsman against Australia in the last ten years, but averages just over 26 in Bangalore, with no hundred in 11 innings.
BatsmanMatchesInningsRunsAverage100s50sSachin Tendulkar71255850.7212Virender Sehwag4739556.4211Rahul Dravid71328221.6902VVS Laxman61121226.5001Among the Indian bowlers, Zaheer Khan, who picked up eight wickets in the previous Test and became only the fifth Indian bowler to reach the 250-wicket mark, has been India’s best bowler in the last three years. India will also rely heavily on Harbhajan Singh, who has been the highest wicket-taker in matches played in Bangalore in the last decade.The Chinnaswamy Stadium has been Australia’s best batting venue, and most of their batsmen have excellent records here. Simon Katich scored half-centuries in 2004 and 2008, and together with the in-form Shane Watson, will be a big threat to the Indian attack. Michael Clarke made a century on debut in 2004, while Ricky Ponting scored a hundred in the previous match in Bangalore. He averages over 50 in Bangalore, which in sharp contrast to his overall average in India which is just 22.30.
BatsmanMatchesRunsAverage100s50sSimon Katich222055.0002Michael Clarke218546.2510Michael Hussey117788.5010Ricky Ponting215652.0010Mitchell Johnson bowled superbly the last time India played Australia in Bangalore, and will lead an otherwise inexperienced attack. While Australia will be pleased with Ben Hilfenhaus’ impressive performance in Mohali, they will be concerned about Doug Bollinger’s injury, which kept him out of the final session of the first Test.Bangalore has been a venue where fast bowlers have performed better than spinners over the last decade, which is another reason why Australia will fancy their chances here. The average for pace bowlers is considerably lower than spinners, but spinners have been more effective in the second innings, picking up 35 wickets at an average of 29.28. On the last four occasions, the team winning the toss has batted first and dominated the match, which suggests that Ponting or MS Dhoni will look to do the same in a match that will decide the series.
Type of bowlerMatchesWickets takenAverage5WI10WMPace69332.3930Spin68341.7571
