Chennai: After Day Four...

Given a lack of pay television in these parts and the refusal of the BCCI to offer a reasonably priced radio option I wasn't going to bother commenting on the current Test series in India but after what has every appearance of a tightly fought four days I can't help myself.

It would be easy to look at things and denounce the batting as not good enough and label the bowling as completely the wrong option, but from where I'm sitting it looks like we've been suckered into this foolhardy notion of we'll play our best side.

That's fair enough, but too often our best side doesn't coincide with the conditions or current forrm, and too often it's built around aspirations rather than reality.

Looking at the two Australian innings in this Test, you'd probably assume we don't play spin very well, and you'd probably be right. Michael Clarke does, but we knew that, and it really looks like we went in on a wing and a prayer with the rest of the top six. After Chennai you'd have to say the only blokes who should be guaranteed a spot in the top six are Clarke and Henriques, who may be better suited ahead of Wade than after him since he might manage to stick around longer.

We don't have a lot of other options on hand over there, so the others are possibly safe once one of them has made way for Khawaja. Until, that is, you decide to turn your attention to the bowling.

Three quicks, a medium paced all-rounder and an offie might be our best bowling attack in these parts, and these three quicks plus Watson and Lyon might be our best bowling attack period, but Watto's not bowling, and you need to consider the conditions.

Given the weather, the track and the general welfare of the players it's obvious we've got at least one quick too many, which brings us back to the on-going Watto conundrum as far as the batting order is concerned.

Bowling Watto and Henriques with a strike bowler (Pattinson) and someone to do the donkey work (take a bow there Mr Siddle) would possibly work just as well as this lineup, but Watto doesn't bowl at the moment, and if he did we'd probably be looking at Henriques and saying, well, that's Watto's job, so we're right in that department.

As far as I can see you need someone to take the new ball and once the shine is off it, it's down to spin, reverse swing and, possibly, someone bowling short sharp bursts. If you go the short sharp bursts bit, it's Pattinson or Starc but not both of 'em.

But, I hear you suggest in your search for wisdom, we've got to play both Pattinson and Starc because they're part of our best bowling attack and, anyway, we don't have any decent spinners.

I'd counter that point with the argument that we don't get 'em because we don't bowl 'em when the conditions are likely to suit, so they don't come on.

I think it's obvious that Maxwell needs to be given a run to see how he goes, and you could probably make an equally strong case for Doherty. Warner needs to bowl more, around the same workload as Clarke, and Clarke needs to bowl a bit more anyway.

Writing this we're nine down and around forty in front going into Day Five, so we know the likely result. Hell, we might even look at it and say that without Dhoni's quite remarkable achievement we haven't done that badly, but we really need to do a bit of thinking before Hyderabad, assuming we actually get there after the recent bomb blasts…

Throwing Maxwell in would strengthen the batting, and given the fact that he tends to be a little prickly, he might contribute some useful niggle. Put him in ahead of Starc and you've got someone to bat Seven or Eight with hitman Pattinson at Nine, Siddle at Ten and Lyon at Eleven.

Up at the top of the order we've got the ongoing Watto conundrum, but I would definitely have Khawaja in for Hughes and leave everything else as is for the moment, with the note that non-bowling Watto needs to contribute runs, and that if he's going to open it doesn't have to be at Cowan's expense. You could always go with Warner at Three and drop Khawaja down a slot, or decide to get Warner to give it a bit of hammer at Four or Five.

Anyway, assuming fitness and the absence of gastric issues, Hughesy's eleven for Hyderabad, track unseen and conditions unknown:

Warner, Cowan, Khawaja, Watson, Clarke, Henriques, Maxwell, Wade, Pattinson/Starc, Siddle, Lyon.