One-man band: Siddle says Sachin falls and rest follow
IT has been a long while since the domino principle applied in international relations, but Australia's bowlers are busily reviving it in international cricket as a way of isolating and ultimately dismissing Sachin Tendulkar.
It was the domino principle that ultimately led Australia to commit to the Vietnam War, fearful one southeast Asian country falling to communism would endanger another, until in the end Australia was imperilled.
Whether there was any validity to the political theory can be left to historians to mull over, but the Australian bowlers are working to a very similar plan in their attempts to contain and eventually remove Tendulkar, the batsman they rate as the cornerstone of the Indian line-up.
In the first innings of the Sydney Test and the second innings of the MCG Test, the regular fall of wickets at the other end allowed the Australians to turn the screws on Tendulkar, distracting and pressuring him to the point that he made a mistake.
India appeared to be travelling comfortably at 3-271 in its second innings at the SCG when Michael Clarke's stunning breakthrough to dismiss the Little Master triggered the loss of three more wickets for only 15 runs.
Again in the first innings in Melbourne, India was well-placed at 2-214 when Peter Siddle dramatically bowled Tendulkar and from that point the tourists slumped to 282 all-out.
"Whether we get his wicket straight away or whether we're getting wickets at the other end, that's what's building pressure on him, I think," Siddle said yesterday. "We've got to be happy with how we've been going about it, how we've been attacking them as a team. That's working."
Just the sight of Tendulkar on strike as he was bowling helped him lift to heights he otherwise could not reach, Siddle said.
"It just seems that the times I've bowled at Sachin maybe I have stepped up for that occasion," he said. "I have bowled at my best in this series against him. I'm lucky enough to have got him two times in Melbourne, but in Sydney a couple of other blokes got him.
"Good bowling is going to get anyone out and I think if you can consistently do it long enough then you can get anyone out.
"That's all we're doing, whether it's the top order or their tail. Just stick to the basics and stick to what we've played for."
With the Australians putting so much emphasis on bowling partnerships, with each responsible for not relaxing the stranglehold, it will be critically important for Ryan Harris to immediately find his groove in the third Test starting at the WACA Ground on Friday, when he replaces the injured James Pattinson.
Siddle, who has shouldered the extra responsibility of being the spearhead of Australia's attack, has no doubt that Harris, who grabbed nine England wickets on his previous Perth Test appearance a year ago, will slot in seamlessly.
"Rhino is pretty much an exact replacement," Siddle said. "He's a little bit smaller than Pattinson but a 145km/h outswinger isn't a bad guy to come in to replace him.
"He's definitely a player who can fill that role perfectly. He's strong, hard . . . he's definitely a good replacement for Patto."
If the Test were to be played on the wicket as it looked yesterday -- as green as a seasick sailor -- there is little doubt that Australia would choose a four-pronged pace attack and leave Nathan Lyon out for some net work in advance of the Adelaide Test, where his crafty off-spinners most definitely will be needed. But with curator Cam Sutherland sure to give the pitch another haircut, Siddle wasn't sure of that.
© The Australian
