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Mongia may open innings

The Indians behaved with great dignity. They did not spew venom at Daryl Harper for his two decisions against Sachin Tendulkar. Given the form book, such decisions from Australian umpires are commonplace.

''It's history now,'' said Tendulkar with that unique touch of oriental philosophy. The Australians, who are on a roll with Steve Waugh's team being the first Australian side to win six Tests in a row since the team of 1967-68 whitewashed India 4-0 and then beat England at Old Trafford for five wins in a row, are quite unrepentant.

Waugh went so far as to praise the umpires of the first Test for standing up to the pressures. But it is unlikely that Harper will be standing again in the series since the job will go by rotation to other home umpires of whom Darrell Hair is rather famous. Or is infamous the right word to describe him?

When leaving South Australia to go to Hobart, the touring team talked of a new approach to the remainder of the series. They have much thinking and more work to do if they are to remain competitive in the series and contribute to the cricket economy of Australia by drawing crowds into the huge concrete bowl of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

The Australians, who will name their second Test team next Monday, are likely to unleash the new pace sensation Brett Lee from Woollongong. The 24-year-old quick bowled the Prime Minister's XI to victory over the tourists in Canberra on the eve of the first Test after having troubled them when he had turned out earlier for New South Wales in the tour game.

The MCG wicket is likely to assist fast bowlers more since the bounce there is higher in recent years after the square was relaid two seasons ago. The Aussie skipper believes the Indians will still be shell-shocked from the first Test defeat when they go into the second.

A shell-shocked India is the reason why they will see the need to bring in a bowler of express speed in place of Michael Kasprowicz who is yet to get over the mauling at the hands of Tendulkar in Sharjah in 1998 and in the first Test here.

''I think that's in the plans, yes,'' said Waugh. ''I think he'll come into calculations for Melbourne, where it's a bit bouncier and consistently paced and in recent years it's been a pretty good place for the quicks to bowl. He'd be a very good chance of being picked,'' said Waugh.

Of course, the Indians have privately questioned the legality of Lee's bowling action. This does not mean the ICC will take note of the whispers since cricket's governing body can only go by the book and examine the issue if it receives an official complaint from an umpire or a match referee.

While the batting order will be high priority among changes to be attempted and experiments to be made in this regard, the Indians must lend serious thought to taking in a fourth scamer into the second Test. They probably will not do this. To take an additional batsman would be in keeping with their defensive approach that was exposed cruelly when three top order batsmen were out without offering a shot in the second innings of the first Test.

The tourists are likely to open with Nayan Mongia in the next tour game against Tasmania at Hobart, from December 17-20, and see how that goes. The Baroda stumper will first have to be forgiven by the team management which seems to have something against him since it asked for Samir Dighe when calling for a reinforcement for the then injured 'keeper Mannava Prasad.

The team will also have the option of opening with Venkata Laxman in case Mongia keeps wickets for long if India bowls first in the second Test. Mongia, who scored a match-winning Test century againist the Aussies at the Kotla in 1996, will certainly strengthen the batting and it is highly unlikely that he will do far worse than Prasad who took his catches well at the Adelaide Oval.

The batting problems might or might not be sorted out through all the juggling. What the tourists need desperately is a change in approach. They need to understand that there are few draws on the sporting pitches of Australia and that the only alternative to defeat is victory. Indians generally struggle to appreciate that philosophy. That they continue to do so despite having such a positive cricketer in Kapil Dev as coach is strange.

A case can be made out for the attack to comprise four seamers and Kumble. Kumaran has been impressive enough and a MCG debut may work to his and India's advantage since the venue has invariably been a fast bowlers' paradise.

The wizard with the withered arm, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar's feats at the MCG came almost 22 years ago when the best Australian players were away with Kerry Packer's world series cricket. Like Harper's decisions in the Adelaide Test, India's win at the MCG is also history now.

Only a change of attitude might see a revival of the Indian team's cricket. Will they be brave enough to back their best six batsmen and go with four seamers into the Test? If they do, their talks of a change of approach will be believable.

UNI