Third Day's Play.

Today the match was a bit boring for an ordinary spectator, just 166 runs scored by Australia. Dhoni had a very defensive 8-1 field on the off side to restrict the run flow which was criticized by the commentators. He stuck to it the whole of the first session and got Simon Katich out. Although criticized by the commentators he managed to get the Aussies out for 355 gaining a lead of about 80 odd runs. This I think has made most of the cricket pundits behind the microphone eat their words. I think one has to hand it to Dhoni the way he has handled himself and also the team even when the Australians threatened to take the game away from India.

Dismissed as negative tactics, Dhoni's strategy has actually brought India to the brink of a historic series win. Now the critics seem hardly fair in judging the strategy of a skilled leader who has managed to bring a very stiff looking opposition down to the mat. Even though the senior-pros had a nightmare of a day out in the field, some shrewd thinking and excellent execution of plans has made India fare better than yesterday when the batsmen succumbed to some accurate spin bowling by Jason Krejza.

I just read a few articles in the Australian newspapers The Age and The Australian. Chloe Saltau and Malcolm Conn, I thought made no sense when they kept re-emphasizing the fact that Dhoni had been negative and set negative fields. Considering the situation of the match now that hardly seems the case. Dhoni has made brilliant strategies to win the match and has it seems, literally bored Australia out of the game. Australia have never looked comfortable playing the waiting game. This was no exception. Dhoni has read the script well and has made the invincible Aussies look mortal.