Great article but on current form you should omit the "and Tendulkar" from the last sentence of the article.

@Gizza : you've been watching/following india matches lately?

Wonderful piece. there is too much being made about having a foreigner as the Aussie coach...
the forthcoming India-Aus series Down Under should be interesting. the big three of Indian batting will pose questions to the young Aussie attack.

I dont agree you suggesting that "even if Ponting score big against New Zealand and India, it wont be true reflection of his batting form". Well, if he score big in these series, the monkey should be off his back the same way it got there when he didnt score. Though I dont like Ponting's so called "fighting spirit" (where as it should have been sportsman spirit), he is one great batsman who can score a hundren even on an "off-day". If Cricket Australia force him to retire its Australia's loss as there are not many waiting on the sidelines at the moment anyway.

@Pranesh, yes I have and he hasn't made a century in quite a while now. Ever since the World Cup, Tendulkar hasn't been "churning out the runs". That's 6 Test Matches and quite a few One-dayers where he has missed out.

@Gizza rewind 2007-08. Tendulkar again had an average year in 2007.
I am laughing , you know you are writing him off before the series. He has a 40+ in 2011, it was around 38 in 2007(before Aus series. Ponting avg.20 before NZ test, much lesser than Tendulkar.

Dravid, Tendulkar, and Laxman may be going for the last time to Australia, but where did Sehwag come from? He's still going to be around till the next world cup atleast, he's only just turned 33. Wow. Seriously, where did Sehwag come from?

Great, lets turn this comments thread into one about the Indian team.

I think Punter likes playing for Australia and earning top dollar to do it. Who can blame him for that? I can't imagine playing state cricket would interest him at all. He appears to only do it when he absolutely has to.

The younger players aren't putting enough pressure on him to move along, though running them out is as good a way to ensure that as any. I hope Usman loses enough awe of him to roar 'No' next time.

I am hoping that Ponting turns his attention to golf when he finally goes. I followed him for 13 holes at a celebrity pro-am and the little dude is a natural born smacker of the ball. Short game was good too. He could be Australia's answer to Dion Sanders and have 2 sporting careers in the one lifetime, though not overlapping like the great Neon's.

Regarding Mickey Arthur, I'm with you. The coach could be an Eskimo for all I care, as long as he knows what he's doing and can get the best out of his players. Mickey strikes me as a very measured, intelligent bloke and I think he was the right choice. I'm not certain exactly who else had their hat in the ring, but they would all be hard pressed to bring more credentials to the table than Mickey.

Finally, re the Indian's this summer. I'm looking forward to my last live view of Scahin and VVS. I don't think we'll see either of them in tests out here again, so it will be nice to see them one last time. They've both been magnificent.

@Jslater, when did I say I was writing Tendulkar off? I merely said Tendulkar is in bad form at the moment which he is. Compare the number of runs and hundreds made by Dravid and Tendulkar in their last 15 innings. I didn't say anything about his entire career just how he is batting at the moment.

That aside, I think he will score one century in the tour of Australia probably in Sydney. I dunno why you mentioned Ponting. I didn't say Ponting is in good form either. I think he won't make a ton this entire summer (including the second test against NZ but that's his best chance in front of his crowd).

For India's sake, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag and Kohli all have the potential to score multiple centuries. Australia will rely on Hussey, Watson (if fit), to a lesser extent Clarke, and I will predict at least one of Warner or Khawaja will shine with the bat.

Lol. That Sehwag thing came out of nowhere! Surely he has some more time!

But barring that, well said. I wish I could argue vociferously that our bowlers will set the Australian pitches on fire, but I really don't know yet. The youngsters HAVE looked really good though, and that is on Indian pitches. So I'm hoping they will do some good things in Australia!

Unfortunately, as an Indian, I can't summon up the due respect for Ponting. He has considerable bad blood with the Indian fans. So I shall keep shut on that point.