Final funda: It pays to have some more pace

The Australians had seen a sliver of an opportunity two days ago and they arenow going all the way to expose and smash India in the finals. Theyadded some more punch to their pace arsenal on Tuesday by recalling MichaelKasprowicz for the first two games in Melbourne and Sydney. Chairmanof selectors Trevor Hohns declared that it was time to give him a chance afterAndy Bichel''s poor run. "We had to make a judgment call on Andy. He hasn''t had avery good tour."That may only be partially true though: theAustralians have suddenly seen that India''s batsmen, despite all the runs duringthe summer, are still uncomfortable with extra pace and more bounce. They wouldlike to exploit that. Kasprowicz who is tall, quick and capable ofswing, is the only addition to the Australian squad for the finals. He hasbowled good spells in the Pura Cup and is almost certain to become the fourtharm of Ricky Ponting''s pace machine. India will now have to copewith the full fury of a fully loaded pace battery, spearheaded by Brett Lee,Jason Gillespie and Brad Williams. Even if the Melbourne track is not going toinduce as much bounce or pace as Perth, its not something they will be lookingforward to at the end of the tour. The Australians are anyway notleaving anything to chance: they headed straight for Melbourne after demolishingIndia and their confidence at Perth on Sunday. "The players wereexpecting a little break before the finals," the team spokesman told. "But the boarddecided it would be better for the team to stay together in the run-up to thefinals," he added. Australia had cleverly incorporated a four-daybreak for themselves between the league games and the finals; they also squeezedout a psychological edge by scheduling the last two games here in Perth.India, who had been rolling among runs till now, are suddenlyrediscovering the problems of batting in Australia. They will now get only twodays to gather their spirits, energies and emotions for one last onslaught.Their biggest worry is that Australia are already on the highway toform: while Brett Lee is progressively looking more and more devastating,Gillespie and Williams have been incisive right from the beginning. Add AdamGilchrist''s electrifying stroke play to that and they have more than a fewproblems on hand. They will have to subdue Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting andAndrew Symonds too to win the series. India clearly have a tough andlong weekend ahead. Ricky Ponting (captain), Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist(wicket-keeper), Damien Martyn, Michael Clarke, Simon Katich, Andrew Symonds,Ian Harvey, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Michael Kasprowicz, Jason Gillespie, BradWilliams.