Australia declared their first innings of the first Test match against Pakistan on 454 for five on Sunday. Who could have thought that a side got a chance to make merry on a ‘batting paradise’ infront of a record home crowd at MCG would do that? When they declared, Michael Clarke was batting on 28 while Marcus North and Bradd Hadding- their two proper batsmen were still to come. They could have easily crossed 600 at the end of the day.
When the day finished, Pakistan were tottering at 109 for the loss of four wickets. They lost the priced wicket of their captain, Mohammad Yousuf, in the second last ball of the day. Australia, took the gamble and like most often, it paid. If they win this match then it would be another big step in the direction of reviving the Test cricket, which is loosing its sheen ( that is what few people think, otherwise, the last few Test matches at different parts of the World were nail-biting!) after the onslaught of Twenty20.
Aussies believe in setting trends. They did exactly the same a decade or so ago when they started scoring runs at a run rate of around three or more. Its impact was huge. It brought more results for them as well as other teams had also started replicating that. Now, most of the teams do not believe in playing the old fashioned Test cricket where a side could score only a handful of runs in the entire day of play. They try to score fast inorder to get a result.
Australia are the only side who could take such a big gamble. It is their mental strength that helps them in taking such audacious decisions. And someone has rightly said, "Fortune favours the brave". It might take Test match cricket to a new level, where it could not only survive but compete with the other formats as well.
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