Following the marvellous victory at Nagpur, India would like to believe that they have gained the upper hand in the series for the moment. Add to it Australia’s injury woes as well as the training debacle at Kotla – they had to skip proper practice due to wet pitches – and India are in with a realistically great chance of going 2-1 up in the series. That said, they need to exercise caution. India have often stumbled in the recent past due to complacency, the signs of which were there during the closing stages in Nagpur. Their lethargic approach meant the last Aussie pair managed to get some good batting practice. However, if the Indians do get their act right for the second time running, Australia could be in for a real tough time.

What the Australians need at the present moment is an uplifting effort from one of their seniors. A century from either among Ponting, Hussey or Watson can turn things around for them. One exceptional performance is often enough to ensure a side’s win in a one-dayer. More than their batting though, it is their bowling to which they need to give some serious thought. Now that Brett Lee is unavailable, Mitchell Johnson has to take over the responsibility of the senior bowling pro. True, he himself is not 100 per cent fit. However, considering the state of his team, he will be expected to rise above the pain and perform.

Ben Hilfenhaus found the going pretty tough at Nagpur, which means the other pacer in the squad Doug Bollinger might get a chance, so also may Moises Henriques, who could replace Adam Voges, in an effort to strengthen the all-round department. Peter Siddle and Nathan Hauritz have been Australia’s two best bowlers on display so far and their side would want them to continue in the same vein. If anything, Hauritz will be expected to be slightly more attacking.

Probably the only good news the Australian team has received in recent hours is that Tim Paine’s replacement Graham Manou will arrive in time for the Delhi match. That he also has some international experience is an additional plus. But expecting something extraordinary from him would be asking for too much, as he is sure to suffer from some amount of jetlag. Even so, the fact that he will available itself is good enough for Australia considering the crisis situation.

In sharp contrast, India are suddenly looking like a winning combination. With Gambhir, Dhoni and Raina among the runs, India managed to put up a rock-solid batting performance at Nagpur. Add to it, the ominous cameos played by Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag and the fact that Tendulkar has yet to reach double figures in the tournament. The opposition camp would be feeling rather jittery. One has to keep in mind though that it was just one game where everything clicked. The Aussies would undoubtedly come back hard at the Indians despite all their troubles.

The home side thus needs to carry on from where they finished off on Wednesday. The low, slow Kotla pitch will offer a tougher challenge and the batters need to be prepared to adapt to the conditions. Bowling wise as well the Indians must stick to their guns. Now that Ishant Sharma has rediscovered his rhythm, he should also realize what suits him best. Praveen Kumar has to just continue doing what he did so well at Nagpur, get the early breakthroughs as well as dry up the runs. The temporary spearhead of the bowling attack, Ashish Nehra, is going through one of his better patches and India would hope it lasts for a longer duration, since his presence makes the bowling line-up all the more potent. Regarding Harbhajan Singh, it remains to be seen how he is dealt with – both by the team management and the Aussie batsmen, who are getting increasing confident against him.

As mentioned in the very beginning, all the pointers suggest India have the upper hand. But while they do possess the better arsenal, the men in blue still have to go out and perform. How well India exploit this golden opportunity will in all certainty determine the fate of the game.

The BCCI selectors decided to name the squad that was selected for Vadodara and Nagpur for the next two ODIs against Australia. This announcement was made by the chairman of selectors Krishnamachari Srikkanth, following India’s series-levelling, comprehensive 99-run win at Nagpur.

There was plenty of pressure on fast bowler Ishant Sharma and medium-pacer Praveen Kumar and Suresh Raina, to some extent, to retain their places. However, impressive showing by the trio at Nagpur meant India are confident of going in with an unchanged squad, at least for the next two matches. Munaf Patel and Sudeep Tyagi continue to remain in the squad as back up for the first-choice pacers.

The third and fourth ODIs will be held in Delhi and Mohali on October 31 and November 2 respectively.

The squad

MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Amit Mishra, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Suresh Raina, Sudeep Tyagi, Yuvraj Singh

More ‘Paine’ for Australia

Meanwhile, Australian wicketkeeper Tim Paine, who has impressed in both the games played against India, is the latest in the injury list for the visiting team. The dashing batsman will miss the remainder of the series due to a broken finger. Paine picked up the injury during Australia’s disastrous 99-run defeat in the second match of the seven-game series at Nagpur.
Paine, who himself was drafted into the Australian side as a replacement for the already injured Brad Haddin, will now be replaced by Graham Manou. He is likely to feature in the third one-dayer to be held New Delhi on Saturday.
Earlier, the Aussies missed the services of pace spearhead Brett Lee and all-rounder James Hopes during the team’s loss at Nagpur. Also missing from the series due to injuries are vice-captain and middle-order batsman Michael Clarke as well as left-arm seamer Nathan Bracken. Owing to the injuries, New South Wales’ Moises Henriques was called in as cover by the Aussie management.

Carrying on the momentum they gained from the Harbhajan-Praveen partnership during the first ODI, India put up a near flawless performance at Nagpur They won by 99 runs to the level the series 1-1, heading into Delhi. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the standout performer for the Indians, stroking a marvellous 124. Further, there were crucial contributions from the other members of the XI too, making it an excellent team effort. Gautam Gambhir continued his good form with a fluent 76 while Suresh Raina relieved some of the pressure on him, making a whirlwind 62.

In the bowling department as well India had their heroes. Praveen Kumar made up for his shabby showing at Vadodara by bowling a probing first spell, claiming two wickets. Ishant Sharma showed further signs of improvement by picking up a couple of scalps and bowling economically, whereas part-timer Ravindra Jadeja ended up being the surprise package, bagging three Australian wickets.

On the other hand, the only thing which went right for Ricky Ponting was winning the toss. But, in hindsight, he would dearly have wanted to lose it. Punter’s decision to bowl first on a batting beauty, keeping in mind the dew factor, backfired and that too in a big way. Australia did manage to strike early when Peter Siddle got Sachin Tendulkar to edge one behind the wickets. But what followed was a fascinating and expected counterattack by Virender Sehwag and Gambhir. The Aussies smelt blood when Sehwag fell for 40, going for one of his big hits and Yuvraj Singh’s promising knock was cut short by Ben Hilfenhaus’ excellent reflex catch. That however only turned out to be the beginning of a long struggle for the Australians.

Dhoni and Gambhir joined forces to decimate the already depleted Aussies. Runs flowed with ease on a pitch that figuratively read ‘bowlers’ graveyard’. Pace spearhead Brett Lee was sorely missed and in his absence even the others were less effective. Siddle was by far the best of the bowlers, pitching the ball more often in the block hole than the others. Conversely, Mitchell Johnson’s expensive figures looked slightly better only because of the couple of wickets he picked up in the last over. That too was thanks too some splendid glovework from Tim Paine. Nathan Hauritz kept things tight but went wicketless, while Shane Watson, whom Ponting reposed faith in despite him 20-run over in the last match, was smashed for plenty yet again.

Even so, nothing can be taken away from M S Dhoni, who paced his innings to perfection. Following the unfortunate run-out of Gambhir, he and Raina steadied the innings before going on an all-out attack in the slog overs. Dhoni brought up his hundred launching a six straight down the ground, off a struggling Johnson. At the other end, Raina kept swinging his bat at everything and, luckily for India, there were more hits than misses. Both were eventually dismissed in the final over, but by then India posted a colossal 354/7.

For Australia to get anywhere close, an outstanding start was needed. Praveen ensured it never came. His inswinging deliveries accounted for Paine and Ponting while Ishant sent back Waston with a rising delivery as the Aussies stumbled to 45/3 and the game was all but decided, barring a miracle. Michael Hussey and Cameron White put on a steadying partnership. However, it was far from enough. White fell to Harbhajan for 23 in an attempt to accelerate the scoring. Hussey went on to top score for his side with a patient 53, before he ended up becoming one of Jadeja’s three victims. The left-hander was beaten in flight by the left-arm spinner and clean bowled. Later, Shaun Marsh was stumped by a long distance and Adam Voges fell going for a slog to give Jadeja his best one-day return in his short international career.

It was a thoroughly comprehensive win for the home side and one that should set up the series nicely, with scores level and everything to play for.

They may have won the first ODI at Vadodara, but there is not a lot of good news coming out of the Australian camp on the eve of the second match, a day-night affair, at Nagpur. The Aussies will miss the services of speedster Brett Lee and all-rounder James Hopes. Lee developed a right elbow strain during the opening game and managed to send down only six overs while Hopes pulled a hamstring. There are also doubts over another all-rounder Mitchell Johnson’s participation, but, thankfully for the Aussies, he is still in contention and might end up taking the field at Nagpur.

In the meantime, New South Wales all-rounder Moises Henriques has been called up by the Australian team management as a standby. He will stay on with the team till the fourth match of the series after joining them on Thursday in Delhi. Post the fourth game at Mohali, a final decision would be made regarding whether Henriques will continue to be a part of the squad for the entire tournament or be relieved, depending on whether Hopes is fit.

The all-rounder recently featured in the inaugural Champions League T20, which New South Wales won. He was highly impressive in the tournament and garnered a lot of praise. Hence, the call up wasn’t all that surprising. Prior to that, Henriques also took part in the IPL, but that ended up being a rather disastrous venture, with his franchise – The Kolkata Knight Riders – finishing at the bottom of the table.

This is not the first time Henriques finds himself in such a situation. A similar thing happened during the series against minnows Bangladesh last year. He was also impressive during Australia A’s winter series against Pakistan A and has been on the fringes of selection since.

Coming back to Australia and injuries, the list only gets longer for the kangaroos. Lee, Hopes and Johnson have now joined Michael Clarke, Nathan Bracken, wicket-keeper batsman Brad Haddin and promising youngster Callum Ferguson, all of whom had to give this tour a skip due to various injury-related problems.

If cricket matches were played only on paper, India would win hands down at Nagpur. Australia will be depleted by the absence of Brett Lee and James Hopes, taken out of the equation by injuries, whereas India would be bolstered with Yuvraj Singh, in all probability, returning to action. However, that’s not how things work out on the cricket field. So even though India would consider themselves lucky to be taking on a depleted Aussie XI, they will still have to go out and perform to level the series at Nagpur. Moreover, the Indians have to pull their socks up in each and every department.

There are likely to be some definite changes in the home team. If Yuvraj comes in, it will be a straightforward decision to be bench one of the young guns – Virat Kohli or Ravindra Jadeja. There is a faint possibility that both might sit out if India decide to go in with the extra spinner in Amit Mishra, with Yuvraj as the part-time option. Apart from that, there shouldn’t be any modifications in the batting department. However, that doesn’t mean all’s well. The top and middle order needs to get its act together. They can be excused for the Vadodara failure considering it was the first game of the series, but cannot afford to repeat their mistakes at Nagpur.

Virender Sehwag looked ominous during his brief stay on Sunday and would be itching for a big score. Among the others, Sachin Tendulkar would be keen to find the middle of the bat after an unusually below-par performance whereas MS Dhoni must be keen to lead from the front. Opener Gautam Gambhir was the only one who lent some solidity to the Indian chase at Vadodara and the rest, including the ‘sometimes flattering, sometimes deceiving’ Suresh Raina, can learn a lesson from his batsmanship. Gambhir, himself, has to continue with his good work.

Bowling wise as well, Dhoni and co have plenty to ponder upon. After the pasting he took at Vadodara, Praveen Kumar’s confidence might well have taken a beating, his fighting knock with the willow notwithstanding. And so, it is a risk the Indians would not like to take in a crucial game. Munaf Patel will most likely be his replacement, but whether he will prove to be a suitable alternative remains to be seen. Ishant Sharma has found some rhythm no doubt, but needs to maintain the consistency over a period of time for him to be blindly trusted by the team management. Finally, the time has come for Harbhajan Singh to sit down with the team think-tank and discuss what role he has to play in the one-day side. Of late, he has been neither been totally attacking nor completely defensive in his tactics, but has been stuck somewhere in between, barring a few games, in which he managed to make an impression. That leaves India with only comeback man Ashish Nehra as the form bowler, a far from ideal situation.

For Australia, expect Ben Hilfenhaus and Shaun Marsh to get an opportunity in place of Lee and Hopes. That apart, they don’t have too many worries. All their batsmen got runs and bowlers crucial wickets. If anything, some improvement is needed in the death overs bowling as well as in the field. Also, they stumbled during the batting powerplay, but the same applies to India as well.

As it often happens in this part of the world, day-night games are affected heavily by dew. Hence, the team batting first will have to post a huge score if they want to beat the wet conditions in the field. One only hopes that the final result is decided on the basis on which team played better cricket and not external factors.