Australia’s second consecutive comfortable win means that the Indians will now have to produce something extraordinary to try and close the gap between the two teams. The Indian bowlers seem incapable of stopping the Australian batsmen, and India’s famed batting lineup is not firing according to expectations. As for the fielding, the heady experience of watching some stunning saves and incredible catches in the ICC World Twenty20 seems like a distant past. So in all departments of the game, Australia are outplaying India.
The other aspect where the Australians are clearly superior is the ‘temperament’ aspect. The Indians have talked the talk, but have not walked the talk as yet, and on present evidence seem hardly likely to do so. There would be some hope if the matches were close contests, but the Australians have hardly been pressed in the games so far and despite not getting the starts they normally get, they seem to be in no trouble whatsoever. The Indian think-tank will have noticed how Man of the Match in the previous game, Brad Haddin, was dropped for the skipper Ricky Ponting to make his way back in the team.
Haddin is the reserve wicket keeper-batsman in this squad, and despite two big knocks, he found himself sitting on the bench. Brad Hodge, who hasn’t scored too many in the three games so far, may have tested the patience of the Australians, but they know what he is capable of and so may not be in a hurry to leave him out.
After two defeats, the Indians may want to make changes in their team, but more than anything, the skipper Dhoni needs to make a statement of intent by promoting himself up the order. His best scores have come at the number three position and that’s what he should be looking to bat at, with Yuvraj following him at number four. Yuvraj batted splendidly to register his eighth one-day century, and if he had someone staying with him, then the match could have been close. Rohit Sharma showed his inexperience by trying to play the big shots instead of playing himself in by rotating the strike to Yuvraj who was batting so well at the other end. Pathan too made the same mistake, and that meant Yuvraj had to try and farm the strike as well as try and keep up with the asking rate.
India’s innings folded up in the 48th over, which is a clear indication of the lack of thought in the Indian batting. What is interesting to see is the manner in which Hopes, who bowls at the same pace as Zaheer, Sreesanth and Pathan, is able to do so at the more economical rate, and also pick up a crucial wicket or two. The Indians should be looking to target him and the spinner Hogg since they are used to playing spin, but that’s not happening because they are not getting a start at all. Ganguly’s injury has thrown the batting out of gear, for his starts with Tendulkar were paving the way for the others that followed.
It’s an uphill climb now for the Indians. They will have to show a lot of character to come back in the series. The Australians want to wipe the memories of the Twenty20 by winning the one day series 6-0. How to stop them from achieving that is the challenge before the Indians.
