Exciting matches ahead in 2 weeks.

SERIES WELL POISED AT 1-1

    Yes,you read it right.Hardly anyone expected the series to be equal after Banglore test.Everybody was expecting India to have one hand on Border-Gavaskar Trophy by the end of the 2nd test.But as good a start Australia got in the first test just blew away India and their confidence.And it seemed as if India just could not see that coming from Australia.Everybody was saying that 4-0 seems inevitable but Australia put all that to bed and came up with one of the finest performances by any touring team on Indian soil.The Margin and the manner of defeat was embarrassing as far as India was concerned.Steven Smith's fighting hundred,young Matthew Renshaw's grit,timely wickets by fast bowlers and off course the rebirth of Steve O'Keefe,it all fell into places for Australia,didn't it?

    But then India had to come back stronger and they did.The first day though couldn't have been any worse than it was for India.At the same time,India 189 all out and Warner and Renshaw solid at Stumps, it couldn't have been any better for Australia.Then it took some heartening bowling performance from fast bowlers on day 2 morning to wrestle the momentum from Australia and force India's comeback and from there on,there was no looking back.Though Asutralia got a crucial 87 run lead,India came up with a solid reply. Rahul was as solid as he was in the first innings during his gritty 90,getting India off to a good start but 4 wickets fell in quick succession only to hand Australia momentum once again. Now Pujara was joined by Ajinkya Rahane and the two of them were involved in a wonderful partnership which just took the game away from Australia.Another small collapse meant that India could only get a lead of 188 which at a time looked to be going past 225-230.But the history of the relaid pitch suggested that 188 was a mountain to climb for Australia and it proved to be no different.Australia were bundled out for 113 as Ashwin was back at his best taking 6 for.As Harsha Bhogle said,"The match was lost well before the end arrived",I too thought that the wicket of Shaun Marsh turned things around.Had that been reviewed Marsh would have survived as the ball tracking showed the ball missing the stumps by a good foot-foot an a half.Then off course Smith was involved in a 'not pretty' looking incident and Indians were all fired up firing in all cylinders.

    Now the teams go to Ranchi with two completely different mindsets.While India have all the momentum going into the third test.Australia would be trying to be as positive as possible despite the loss of two huge players in Mitchell Marsh and Mitchell Starc.

   Looking back at couple of ODIs and a few IPL games played at this venue,it's fair to expect a slow and low turner for the first ever test at this venue.