Melbourne, Nov 20: Steve Waugh wants skipper Ricky Ponting (Photo right)to stop defending his actions on the India tour and rather suggested him to concentrate on saving the world champion side from becoming vulnerable.
The former skipper advised the current leader of the team to leave behind the bad memories of the India tour and move on.

NAGPUR: The city’s central museum, popularly called ‘Ajab bangla’, is facing a curious predicament. Its municipal water connection has gone
virtually dry for nearly two years or so. However, that is not preventing the Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s water works department from sending it a bill of around Rs 25,000 every 3-4 months.

THE Australian team is on notice. There is an immediate need for Ricky Ponting and his men to reconnect with the true followers of the game in this country and regain their respect.

For all their success of recent years, the elite of Australian cricket lost the support of much of their constituency last season.

Young and old and especially former first-class and Test players were saddened if not sickened by the boorishness and triumphalism of the Australians against an admirable if pesky opponent from India.

Ishant Sharma's ankle injury has only resulted in him being rested, as of now, at least.

Fortunately for India, though Ishant is not the most muscular of fast bowlers, he seems to be blessed with a constitution that allows him to bowl a lot of overs. But he is not alone in this and the think tank has noted that the workload is quite severe for some cricketers.

Australia
has never been the easiest team to beat. India outplaying them by a 2-0 margin was nothing short of momentous.ON a rather normal day in
early February in 1981, history was made. It was the first time India had beaten Australia on their turf. The match, which was played in Melbourne, would be remembered for a stylish century by Gundappa Vishwanath and an unforgettable spell of fast bowling on the last day by Kapil Dev. Sadly, Indian fans had to wait for another two decades before this feat would be repeated.

Melbourne: India's win over Australia has broken their aura of invincibility with even New Zealand, who are touring Down Under, declaring that the world champions are indeed beatable.

Australia will try to regain some of their lost supremacy when they face New Zealand in a two Test-series starting November 20 which will be followed by five ODIs and Twenty20.

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India are confident of being able to switch off from their stunning Test series triumph against Australia and immediately focus on the one-day series starting against England on Friday.

Just three days after completing a memorable 2-0 series triumph in Nagpur over Australia, India have already moved to Rajkot in preparation for the opener to the seven-match one-day series.

It will involve an immediate change in tactics and tempo from the Test series, but captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is confident his squad can rise to the challenge and continue their momentum against England.

Dubai (PTI): Indian bowlers' fantastic performance in the just-concluded Border-Gavaskar trophy is reflected in their improved ICC rankings with off-spinner Harbhajan Singh rising to a five-year high of seventh and pacer Ishant Sharma breaking into the top-30 for the first time.

Both Harbhajan and Man of the Series Ishant claimed 15-wickets apiece in the series. The 28-year-old Harbhajan took seven wickets in the fourth Test against Australia at Nagpur and as a result, has moved past Chaminda Vaas of Sri Lanka and Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar.

"I am sure Ricky would regret the decision," Waugh told the Herald Sun. "Winning the Test match is what mattered. You have just spent six weeks in the subcontinent. You just don't take your foot off the gas."

Waugh was adding his voice to what has become a chorus of protest against Ponting's failure to use his faster bowlers after tea on the fourth day. With India standing 250 runs ahead with just four wickets in hand, Australia seemed to have a chance of squaring the series.

Matthew Hayden, 6

Took a long while to get going and was tormented in the first couple of Tests by Zaheer Khan. Though he did not reach the heights of previous India tours, his final, pugnacious innings of 77 showed he could still panic the opposition. Gets extra marks for impeccable slips catching.

Simon Katich, 8

Consistent and effective in tough conditions, picked up his tempo as the tour progressed and got the hundred he craved in Nagpur in spite of India's negative tactics. Established himself as an opener and reminded the selectors of the usefulness of his left-arm spinners.