Not the test team.

Atleast not till they find someone with even quarter of the magic that Warne had and an opening pair to match the Hayden & Langer of old.

Its their ODI team that excites me.

Shaun Marsh is one of the reasons but there are more.

They have a series coming up against South Africa and recently announced their squad.

And unlike their test cricketers, their ODI cricketers seem to have a buzz around them.

In Shaun Marsh at the top of the order they have one of the most exciting batsmen in world cricket today.

With Hayden's ODI career coming to a halt and Shane Watson out with yet another injury, I'm not sure who will partner Marsh.

Marsh and Watson, in my view, formed a great combination at the top and they could be the openers to look out for in the future if Watson can get some more cow blood into his body.

Looking at Australia's squad, James Hopes seems like the most likely option.

Marsh & Hopes did the job in the 1st ODI against Bangladesh in August last year.

And they did so during the IPL as well for the Kings XI.

We know what another IPL opening pair has done last year - that too in all forms of the game.

Brad Haddin has done the job as well in the past, not so successfully though.

However, with the form he is in these days, it might be the perfect opportunity to send him at the top of the innings with Marsh.

Nevertheless, whether its Marsh & Hopes or Marsh & Haddin, fireworks will be the order of the day.

Good attacking cricket will be on view.

And for some reason, I feel it will be better than watching the Australian test team of late.

These guys are not the only ones that get me excited.

Cameron White is another.

I have a thing for leggies. But more than that its White's power hitting that makes him what he is.

I'm glad the Aussie selectors have ignored their blunder of playing him as a leg spinner in the tests against India and have stuck with him for the ODIs.

The usual suspects - Ponting, Clarke, and Hussey - are there, but they're hardly exciting.

Actually Hussey is in ODIs. Ignore his test style. In ODIs he can be brutal and has been.

And then there's another Hussey.

David Hussey.

Now thats a player you don't want to miss.

He can hit and he can hit hard and far.

We saw glimpses of what he can do in the IPL and then in the West Indies.

But I'm sure there's more to come from him.

He's been in smashing form in the ongoing 20-20 Big Bash.

How can anyone not be excited about him.

So while Australia's test batsmen seem lost in time and don't seem all that threatening anymore, the ODI batting line up seems to be a fine one.

Marsh, Hopes, Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, Hussey, White, Haddin

Read that again.

Marsh, Hopes, Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, Hussey, White, Haddin

Thats why the Australian ODI team excites me.

Steyn & Co. - watch out!

Due to the New Year holidays I missed the progress of Umar Gul and Sohail Tanvir down under in the ongoing Twenty20 Big Bash.

But now, I am back, and am pleased to find that Gul has been in fiery form for Western Australia.

Last week he managed a 4 wicket haul in his first game for WA, and last night he managed 3-21 against Tasmania.

What's more, Gul even hit the winning runs of the only ball he faced in the game - a 4 of the penultimate delivery of the match leading WA to 2nd place in the points table.

Gul even held 3 catches in the match - wonder where he was fielding.

He didn't have that good a game in his 2nd match against New South Wales, where he went for 41 runs in his 4 overs.

On the other hand, Sohail Tanvir hasn't tasted the same success with South Australia losing to defending champions Victoria.

Victoria haven't lost many 20-20 games in Australia over the last 3-4 years. They have also won the competition 3 times on the trot prior to this one.

When South Australia managed 183, they may have smelled a chance with the best 20-20 bowler in the world in their ranks.

But Victoria showed why they are the best 20-20 side in Australia, if not the world.

Hodge, the leading 20-20 run scorer in the world and White, the captain with the most 20-20 wins creamed the SA bowling.

And they have an opener named Blizzard!

AC Blizzard !!!

What an amazing name you have there Aiden.

And apt for 20-20 cricket too.

Its only appropriate that a man with the name 'Blizzard' has a 20-20 strike rate of 177.95!

I forgot I was writing about Gul. Yep he's been fiery with the ball.

But AC Blizzard. Watch out for the future - the papers can have a field day with headlines.

I love leg spinners.

I may not be as passionate about them as JRod but I still love them.

They make the game exciting to watch.

Those subtle few steps to the crease, the twirl of the arm, the rip of the fingers, the flight of the ball, and that bamboozled batsman who sees the ball spin across him and past the off stump - very few sights beat this one in cricket.

Since Shane Warne retired last year, I have been waiting for a leg spinner to emerge who would make cricket as exciting to watch as Warne did.

The Aussies took Beau Casson to the Windies and I remember tuning into the test late one night just to watch a new leg spinner bowl.

Considering he was Warne's apparent long term replacement, my anticipation was high despite warnings from JRod that he wasn't all that.

Casson hardly impressed.

The IPL provided a lot of excitement as there were a lot of leggies in action.

I watched Warne all over again, along with Piyush Chawla and Amit Mishra, and the Warne understudy at the Rajasthan Royals - Dinesh Salunkhe!

But the IPL provided only 4 overs each from them. At the most. That wasn't enough for either of these bowlers to show what they were all about.

A leg spinner needs a stage to perform and that stage is Test cricket.

I was still looking for that 1 leg spinner to emerge.

Ajantha Mendis provided a lot of excitement in the India - Sri Lanka test series over the summer, but he's not a leg spinner.

Exciting yes, but in a different way. Its his mystery element that makes him exciting. There's no rip, no twirling of the arms, no oohs or aahs.

Great bowler that Mendis, but not the leg spinner I had been waiting for.

When the Australian test squad for the ongoing India - Australia test series was announced, there was one name there that I had seen do the rounds of Cricket with Balls for the last year.

That name was Bryce McGain.

He was a leg spinner. He was from the same state as Shane Warne. He had had a successful domestic season in Australia.

And he was to debut at Bangalore.

JRod had gone on about him for over a year so I was sure that he was something to look forward to.

That leg spinner whom I had been waiting for was finally here.

Almost!

A shoulder injury booked McGain a flight back to Australia.

Cameron White, the Victoria captain and also a leg spinner, was sent to India to replace him.

I had first heard of White a long time back when in one article it was mentioned that he was the next blonde leg spinner that would take Australia by storm.

That was a long long time ago as since then White had become more of a batsman and only a part time leg spinner.

Watching White bowl in the 1st test at Bangalore was fun. He brought a lot of passion into the game as was evident when he took that wicket of Sachin Tendulkar. His first.

But that excitement, that rip, that wrong one, the one that pitches on leg and goes past off, the oohs, the aahs were all missing.

It was never expected to be there to begin with.

The wait for that leggie had to continue I thought.

When news regarding Kumble's fitness did the rounds before the Mohali Test, I thought India would go in with 3 seamers and Bhajji.

Which is why on Friday morning, I was surprised to see Amit Mishra in the XI.

That led the blood cells racing again. Another leg spinner to debut.

I had first seen Mishra in the IPL and had been impressed by him.

Bak then, I had also wondered why Piyush Chawla was playing internationals and not Mishra.

When Mishra took the ball in his hand yesterday, I glued myself to the TV.

Yet another leg spinner was going to bowl his first ball in test cricket. I wondered if he was the leg spinner I had been waiting for all this time.

His first over told me he could be.

His third over, where he bowled Katich off an inside edge, got me thinking that he was definitely the one who would make test cricket as exciting as Warne did.

His 9th and the day's last over, where he trapped Clarke plumb in front with a googly, made me realise that Mishra was it.

Finally I got what I had been waiting for.

Finally test cricket had unleashed another leg spinner who will make it exciting to watch.

Finally the world will see another bowler take a few steps, twirl that arm, rip those fingers, flight that ball, pitch it on leg, and spin it across the batsmen.

Occassionally, the world will also see the wrong ones, and the flippers, and we will all ooh and aah in anticipation of a wicket.

He is playing this test due to an injury to Kumble. Mishra's future probably depends on Kumble's fitness but I hope India can find ways to keep him in the XI despite Kumble's presence.

Because to do otherwise will be gross injustice to the talent this man possesses.

I have been waiting for you Mishra.

And I don't want to wait anymore.

No ageing star should need to announce his retirement for you to make that spot in the XI your very own.

Saurav Ganguly, who is pushed into retirement, who has a miserable record against the Aussies, who was Brad Hogg's bunny in the series prior to this one, who till yesterday had 1 century in 20 odd tests against Australia, top scores with 102 to guide India to a significant total.

And you still want him retired?

Shakib-Ul-Hasan, a 21 year old left arm spinner, who declined an ICL offer, who till yesterday had a mere 3 wickets in 6 tests with a best of 2/44, demolishes the New Zealand batting line up with 6-31!

And you still think Bangladesh are minnows?

Just when one thought that leg spin was a dieing art form after Shane Warne, we first saw Cameron White make an impressive debut against India, then we saw the same White triple his wicket tally by getting India's top 2 scorers out today, and then we saw Amit Mishra bowl his 1st delivery in test cricket, pick a wicket up with his 18th, and another with his 53rd!

And you thought you would never see a leg spinner who gives it a rip?

All this in one day and you thought test cricket was boring?

Ramadan and the Eid break are over and life has finally returned to some normalcy after 2 months of vacationing, fasting, and feasts.

Cricket is coming back to life gradually as well with the India vs Australia series about to kick off.

There has been a lot of speculation regarding the Indian seniors and their future and the lack of experience in the Australian ranks but come Thursday and everyone will be glued to watch the mother of all test series.

Whether the series will be bigger and better than the previous ones between these 2 sides, I don't know but I think it will be very closely fought.

Both, India and Australia, are weaker than they have been in the past. India's middle order is not as powerful as it once was, while Australia's bowling lacks the potency it once had.

Keeping this in mind, it should be an interesing contest.

I feel bad for Bryce McGain, who has had to go back without playing for Australia, and I feel worse for this man who has been rooting McGain's case for a year now - how close!

The fact that a Victorian replaced McGain might be some justice for the JRod but McGain missing out on a test debut in India is probably too big a let down.

Even for me it is and I have only read about him!

The spinner is going to be a big problem for Australia.

From what I saw of Krejza in the match against the Board President's XI, it doesn't look like he'll be playing much test cricket in India.

Cameron White, from what I hear, has become more of a batsman then a leg spinner, so I doubt he would pose a threat to the Indian batting line up.

But then, no Aussie spinner has ever troubled the Indians, not even the best spinner in the world, so I guess it doesn't really matter then does it?

Lee, Clarke, and Johnson / Siddle don't look like troubling the Indian batsmen either. No matter how old they're getting.

The Aussies will have to bat out of their skins I feel because the bowling doesn't look like taking 20 Indian wickets.

If Kumble and Bhajji are in their stride, the Aussies will find it tough.

India look more settled going into the 1st test.

The change of guard at the board level hasn't changed much in the team, and despite a loss to Sri Lanka over the summer, India has done very well at the test level under Kumble.

One question though to the Indian readers - why was Rohit Sharma dropped?

I have read about Badrinath in almost all of the Indian blogs doing the rounds and everyone has a good thing or two to say about him.

But wasn't Rohit in the test squad that went to Sri Lanka? He didn't get a test match there and now he finds himself dropped without getting a chance.

Why?

The way he batted for his 105 against the Aussies made me think that India's new selectors made a mistake.

Badrinath maybe a domestic champion but Rohit Sharma is India's middle order's future.

And Virat Kohli - I think we will hear this name for a long time to come.

As for Sachin, Saurav, Rahul, VVS - Good luck. Stretch those ageing legs as far as you can because if you fail India this time it will be very hard to keep the Sharmas, Yuvrajs, Kohlis, Badris, Kaifs, and Rainas on the bench.

International cricket is back and I can't wait for the action to begin.