How to win in Australia? Lessons from the English

• Throw away the record books There’s no point worrying about the history. Yes, it’s true – the Aussies have an awesome record on home soil. But history doesn’t come out on the field of play and take the wickets, catch the chances or score any of the runs for you. Australia themselves discovered this fact 12 months ago when England dismantled them with embarrassing ease in three of the five Tests. The last thing India should do is concern themselves with their past failures in Australia (in case you were wondering, they’ve won only five of 36 Tests, and never taken a series). All that any of these stats shows are trends relating to the past. They might provide clues as to what went wrong on previous occasions, but they don’t address the present situation. • Get the preparation right Here’s where India could have already made life difficult for themselves. One two-day game followed by a three-day warm-up certainly hasn’t given the bowlers enough miles in their legs and it can’t really have got the batsmen adjusted enough either. Sure, South Africa won the 2008-09 series after an even shorter preliminary schedule, but India are coming off a long stint of cricket, largely playing white-ball cricket, in their own conditions. Duncan Fletcher can’t worry about that now. He has to make up for this flaw by getting the mental preparation of his players right, and crystallising the probable starting side long before Monday morning comes around. [caption id=“attachment_163761” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Dan Christian of Australia with team mate Ricky Ponting during training at the MCG in Melbourne, Australia. AP”] [/caption] Above all else, Fletcher must not let the players go out on the field of play at the MCG suffering a severe bout of stagefright, as was the case with the 2006-07 England tourists who he coached. • Respect the Kookaburra The ball of choice for Australia’s home Tests is more than useful for a good-quality seam attack even on a flat wicket – but only while it remains hard, shiny and in good condition. With this in mind, when India bowl first – and bearing in mind that Ed Cowan and David Warner are one of the greenest Test opening pairings Australia has ever produced – they must get early breakthroughs. This, of course, does not just mean bowling in the right channels to elicit outside edges and lbw appeals – it also means the slip catchers and other close-in fielders being on high alert, as England’s were 12 months ago when Australia’s top order imploded on the first day in Adelaide. When it comes to India facing the new ball, Gautam Gambhir is absolutely key. While Virender Sehwag will always bat his own way, and thus put himself at risk of early dismissals, Gambhir has the technique to get through the tough early stages and then make hay later on. • Let the Aussie media talk its team down Bored, perhaps, by a period of sustained dominance until the retirement of some legendary names four or five years ago, many Australian cricket writers are only too willing to pick a fight with their own team, figuratively of course. Phil Hughes’ obituary was being written long before he was finally axed from the current side, while there remain deep suspicions concerning the new chairman of selectors, John Inverarity. There’s a confrontational aspect to the home media that really can’t aid the Australian camp. It’s not as bad as it got before the start of the Brisbane Test in November last year, when newspapers gladly revealed how die-hard Aussie fans were tipping the Poms to win. But India can make it that bad if they get off to a fast start in Melbourne. • Prey on Australia’s vulnerabilities When they strode this earth with fearsome beasts named Warne, McGrath, Gilchrist etc the Australians were frequently unchallengeable. Now they aren’t, and while their most dangerous and obvious current weakness is their susceptibility to a batting collapse, there are other more subtle frailties. One of them is their ability to squander very strong positions. As just one example, take the Perth Test of 2008-09 against South Africa. Australia led by nearly 100 on first innings, and then made 319. That left the Proteas with an almighty chase of 413, but they got there with just four wickets down, despite Mitchell Johnson bowling well. More starkly, and of course much more recently, Australia will not need to be reminded that they lost a home Test against a really weak New Zealand side despite bowling them out in just 46 overs on the first morning. Once known as a team who always found a way to win, the Aussies are now a liability when it comes to closing out winning positions. This is something that should give India real hope.