Arthur's mantra for team: Show intent against spinners

Of the numerous questions thrown at Michael Clarke and Mickey Arthur at their so-called arrival press conference here on Monday, the Australian head coach was required to answer only three. But, in a way, it was the South African who stole the show with an unexpected riposte to an obvious question. For a moment, he sounded like the Sehwags and Warners.

Every Australian player who has been faced with a ‘spin’ query over the past 10 days has countered it by saying that the Aussies would hit India with their pace-bowling arsenal, resorting to conventional as well as reverse swing.  Arthur didn’t employ any back-of-the-hand tactics. Instead, he tackled spin with a straight bat.

“There’s no point in us defending, we have to be showing intent because if we can show intent and put them under pressure I think we could open some chinks in their armour, because the Indian spinners have been under pressure,” Arthur said.

“They didn’t win the series against England, so the Indian spinners are coming into this series with the weight of expectation on their shoulders. If we get on top of them at any phase of the game, they will be feeling the heat as much as our batsmen are. That’s got to be a very firm plan in our mind.”

Arthur did two things right: he spoke the truth and also gave the series some much-needed buzz.

He was spot-on to say the least. India were all over the Englishmen in the Ahmedabad Test, but we know what happened in Mumbai and Kolkata before the final Test in Nagpur ended in a draw. Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann clearly outsmarted R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha, making merry on the made-to-order square turners.

Skipper Clarke took questions on a range of issues from where his side needs to improve to the absence of Michael Hussey and Ricky Ponting, from Sachin Tendulkar’s form to Harbhajan’s Singh’s “4-0” prediction. And yes, he was also asked about spin.

“I guess we have to improve a lot. We need more runs, more wickets and more catches,” he said, evoking peals of laughter.

The right-hander wouldn’t buy the theory that Tendulkar was over the hill. “Sachin got a hundred most recently. So I think that he is in really good form. He is a huge player for India and we have to just try and get him out as early as possible.”

He is surely feeling the absence of Hussey and Ponting, but “I think it is an opportunity for couple of senior members of the present team to stand up”. Talk of optimism.

Clarke insisted no team was invincible and cited the example of England’s recent victory. He was smart enough to overlook Bhajji’s soothsaying skills, preferring instead to congratulate him. “It is nice to see him back in the squad. He is a wonderful player and he is a very competitive cricketer and loves the challenge of playing against any opposition, especially Australia. In regard to the result of the series, right now I am focusing on the first Test match,” Clarke said.

When reminded that 22 of the 23 Australian wickets in the two warm-up games fell to spinners, Clarke came up with another gem. “At the end of the day, you have to get out to somebody. The more overs that somebody bowls, that is the way for him to take wickets.  So the spinners bowled a lot of overs and that is the fact that they got lot of wickets.”

He sure didn’t mean that!

@DAbrahamm