A Deadly opening Duo by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Player:	V Sehwag, G Gambhir, I Sharma, Z Khan
Event:	Australia in India 2008/09

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DateLine: 24th October 2008

 

One of the major reasons for India's thumping win over Australia has been the performance of opening duo both in the fast bowling as well as batting department. Sehwag,Gambhir as opening batsman and Ishant and Zaheer as opening bowlers. They are the ones who have set the foundation for this brilliant victory.
Viru and Gautam pocket dynamos
The Delhi duo are certainly pocket dynamos. There aggressive attitude ,the way they complement each other there is never a dull moment. There running between wickets reminds one and all of Haynes and Greenidge or Marsh and Boon.To steal singles at test level right from under the nose of fielders like Clarke and Ponting is never easy but they did it. One never remembers any team taking on the Aussie fielders the way these two did. Combine that with their aggressive approach to batting , whether it is spinners or quicks they are always dominating.Scoring at four an over is never easy in the first place but to score at five an over against an Aussie team is unheard of. They have been setting the platform right from the IPL days . To follow it up with performance in onedayers,Test matches in Sri Lanka where the middle order had no clue and again here shows their consistency. Their on field and off field friendship is well known and they are putting it to use to good effect. Hope they don't get complacent or satisfied and follow this up the same way as there once upon counterparts Hayden and Langer did for Australia .They were one of the major reasons for Australia dominating world cricket for so many years.Viru and Gautam should follow suit.
Ishant and Zaheer lethal
Ishant and Zaheer khan have become a lethal opening attack. Not since the days of Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad have we seen such a lethal bowling attack.The only difference is that Srinath and Prasad were not as lethal on Flat tracks as we got to see in the second test in Mohali. During there days Anil was at his peak to do all the damage in subcontinent conditions. Zaheer and Ishant unfortunately don't have Anil at his peak. They are always under pressure to do the early damage. With the spinners struggling without early damage , the pacers are not only using the new ball really well but also getting Reverse swing very early using cross seam and maintaining the ball well.This is the first time in ages that Indian quicks had out bowled their Aussie counterparts.They hit the right lengths and troubled the best in business.Ponting and Hayden have always been the key players in the Aussie side and they had no clue against these two.They have already become these two's bunnies.Hopefully they continue this in the years to come.One here needs to mention the bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad who has done a remarkable job with Indian pace bowling in the last year and a half.
Future is bright
When a team has such a deadly opening duo then it is a great foundation for the rest of the team.Almost half the battle is won in the first few overs of both the innings.And with three key match winners Ponting,Hayden and Lee neutralized by this opening duo itself India would be looking to these four to repeat the Mohali act not only in the remainder of the series but in the future tours as well.