Nov 03 2009
Will India Bounce Back against Australia?
The India-Australia one day series is nicely poised at 2-2. With three matches to play, it is anybody’s series from now on. The team that gets their act together quickly will go ahead and probably end as the No. 1 team in ODI cricket.
The teams were affected by injuries. Australia had almost playing a second string team with their main strike bowlers disappearing one after another. Brett Lee, Peter Siddle, James Hopes, Brad Haddin, Michael Clarke, … The list may continue. Add to them the half-fit Mitchell Johnson. With such a long list, Australia is really doing well against the Indians at their home. India have lost Gambhir to injury, but he should be back for the next game.
India’s batting was their strength and their weakness. It came together nicely in game #2 and #3 and the batting settled easily around the elegance of captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. But, the failure of Dhoni in game #1 & #4 meant the batting could not be stitched together by a stable innings. The other person who could have done is Gambhir. He has played some excellent games in the last couple of years.
Virat Kohli and Jadeja are not using their opportunities well. Kohli, promoted to bat at No. 3 in the absence of Gambhir, played a poor shot to be caught behind. Jadeja, who has bowled reasonably well throughout the series, has failed in the batting department. Jadeja needs to understand that he is in the team as an allrounder. If he is not going to show his batting skills, he will be out of the team soon. The pressure on him is clearly evident when he ran out for a non-existent single. The Australian batting has been revolving around Ponting and Mike Hussey, who are having a wonderful series so far.
The bowling of Ishant Sharma should be a concern to Dhoni. While every other bowler bowled exceptionally well in the fourth match, there were two glaring failures, Ishant Sharma for India and Mitchell Johnson for Australia. It would not be a bad idea for Dhoni to rest Ishant and try may be Sudeep Tyagi or Munaf Patel.
Time for Dhoni to produce another batting performance! The next match will be very critical to lifting the series. Good luck Indian team!
