Kumble blasts Gauti, Viru

Anil Kumble said India could have chased the 299 runs to win the Bangalore Test had Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir fired.

"We would have definitely chased the target if Viru and Gambhir had given us a good start," Kumble said.

"After we fought back through Zaheer (Khan) and Bhajji (Harbhajan Singh) we were confident of finishing the match on a high note. If we had got a start like we did in the first innings we could have gone for the target. But unfortunately we did not get it and we had to settle for a
draw," he added.

Kumble said toss also played a vital role.

"I think the toss also played an important role and if I had won the toss probably things would have been different and we could have been in a much better position on the fifth day." About the Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch, Kumble said, "The Bangalore pitch has changed with people fiddling with it in the past eight years or so but again as I said before winning the toss could have made a difference." Asked as why the middle order batsmen was not coming up to the mark, particularly VVS Laxman, Kumble quickly retorted, saying it was unfair to judge a player on a single performance.

"It is unfair to point a finger at any of them (Fab Four). Laxman has been a real champion and has won us matches in the past," Kumble said. "It is not fair that people try to put an axe on him every time he fails and forget his contributions to the team's cause in the past or for that
matter any of the players. I'm sure all of them will perform as they have the quality and will get centuries at Mohali," he said.

On his own wicketless show on home ground here, Kumble said, "I think just one failure should not be held against a player. As a captain I have played my part. But I could not take wickets. It is not possible for a bowler to take wickets in every Test as everybody has an off day.

About his reported shoulder injury, Kumble said, "As far as my shoulder is concerned, it is much better now. There are still three days to go for the Mohali Test. We will monitor it (shoulder) closely." With the first Test slipping out of his fingers, Kumble is now eyeing the second Test and sounds confident.

"We are certainly going for a win at Mohali. We are confident of doing well in the series as our aim is to win the series. In fact, we would have been in a better position if we had got rid of Haddin or Watson yesterday.

"They batted well. Even today if I had taken Haddin's catch in the very first over, things would have been different but it did not workout that way," Kumble said.

Akram: Seniors saved India

Former Paskistan skipper Wasim Akram said India could hold on to a draw in Bangalore thanks to the way the seniors batted.

Speaking to Mobile ESPN, Akram said: "If India had played inexperienced batsmen in the match, Australia would have wrapped up the Test half an hour after Tea on Monday."

"Sachin (Tendulkar), VVS Laxman, Rahul (Dravid) and Sourav (Ganguly) played according to the situation. It was certainly not an easy wicket to bat on."

The former-cricketer-turned-commentator said the first Test was a close affair: "I had said before the match that India would be the favourites but the toss played a crucial factor."

The highest wicket taker in ODI's was impressed by India's pace attack but was critical of the spinners.

"Zaheer (Khan) and Ishant (Sharma) bowled brilliantly. They got the reverse swing going, hid the shiny part and came along really well."

"However, the spinners disappointed, especially Anil Kumble. It was his kind of a wicket."

The former sultan of swing felt if India came across similar wickets in the remianing venues and batted first after winning the toss and got a good score on the board, Australi would feel the pinch.

Harsha: Aussies can't take 20 wickets

Expert cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle said the Australian attack is incapable of taking 20 wickets in a Test match.

Speaking to Mobile ESPN, Harsha said: "If you don't lose wickets to Australia's new ball bowlers, you get to see that there is not much in the Australian attack that can take 20 wickets."

Harsha said the first Test in Bangalore was rivetting for a major part and was a bit of an anti-climax only towards the end.

"But that is to be expected increasingly these days on Indian pitches. The wicket looked fragile but actually went on to conduct itself pretty well."

"That's how wickets in India behave. The Bangalore wicket turned out to be okay from a batting perspective."

Harsha opined India did well to get out of jail by forcing a draw despite some good cricket by Australia.

"Australia had India on the racks but did not have enough to bowl India out."

"The Aussies were really only a couple of wicketsaway from a win. This is a game India should have lost."

Harsha said it was good to see Sachin Tendulkar spend a long time in the middle: "However, I get worried to see Sachin play spinners the way he did. He is too good a player to treat spinners with so much respect."

"It was also nice to see VVS Laxman spend some time in the middle. He alongwith some of the other players was short of match practice but he spent some quality time in the middle."

Harsha, though pointed out that the Indian batting seemed to be a little anxious: "The batsmen appeard to be playing for their places in the team."

"I am not sure that is the best way to play cricket."

Harsha said the the biggest plus for Australia were Shane Watson's bowling and the fact that Mike Hussey got runs in the middle."

Speaking on the Indian attack, Harsha thought India lacked a third seamer: "Maybe India would do well to drop one spinner and play another seamer. Virender Sehwag needs to be used more. But that would again depend on the kind of surface."

Harsha said India would be on a high going into the second Test in Mohali, whereas Australia would be disappointed they could not force a win.

Indian Cricket League

The Season 2 of ICL, the Indian Cricket League, the exciting new series which has changed the face of world cricket, promises more action and ‘cricketainment’ when it starts October 10.

Already, the introduction of a ninth team – the Dhaka Warriors – is causing a lot of excitement and the new ICL World Series-Edition 2 will be staged over four venues – Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Gurgaon and Panchkula, followed by the World Series featuring four teams, namely ICL India, ICL Pakistan, ICL World and ICL Bangladesh, which will be held in Hyderabad.

ICL’s pioneering initiative in the last season saw the induction of Lahore Badshahs, who played a pivotal role in taking the standard of domestic Indian cricket to an unprecedented level. The Dhaka Warriors are sure to bring in a whole new vibrancy to the Indian Cricket League.