Are the Australians setting us up for a sucker punch?

With just a few days left before the Australian team embarks on its tour to India, the Australian press would have been awash with motivated articles. However, what we see is the unlikely scenario of the Australian press portraying the Indians as the favourites.

Similarly, there is a singular lack of fighting talk from the Australian players. Other than Michael Clark’s reaction to Kirsten’s comment on Andrew Symond, there has been no other belligerent comment. Yes, Pointing did try to sow a seed of dissension among the Indian ranks by saying that dropping Ganguly was inexplicable, but then it was a weak attempt.

Surprisingly, even those who should know better, the punters seem to have accepted the status quo. Lasseters Sports, leading head bookie Gerard Daffy says, ''There are a lot of question marks over several of the Australia team for this series and it appears punters do not want a bar of them''. For the record, Australian bookmakers have plumped for a drawn series.

However, from an Indian point of view, this low-key start is quiet unlike the Australians. The Australian strategy appears to be to lull the Indians into complacency and then deliver the sucker punch. Nonetheless, there is a fear that after their high-octane encounter in Australia, this muted build-up may fail to enthuse Indian spectators. The rush for the tickets will reveal how they see this series.