Australian cricket team took a 23-run lead after dismissing the hosts for 405 on day three. Touring team set a chasing score of 428 on second day.
India started the third day with 110 for 2 with Rahul Dravid and Ishant Sharma not out on stumps. Rahul Dravid was not out on 21 and Ishant Sharma was on 0. They needed more 318 runs to surpass Australia’s target.
India started well but they could not hold their dominance over the Aussie bowlers. Nightwatchman, Ishant Sharma, was the first wicket to fall on third day. After that, Rahul Dravid made partnership with Sachin Tendulkar in the fourth wicket. When the pair was playing against it seemed India will take lead in the first innings and put on a huge total on the board.
However, Rahul Dravid was dismissed for 77 and failed to surpass Sir Don Bradman's tally of 29 Test hundred. There is no doubt that Australian bowlers were tortured more by Sachin Tendulkar. He was two runs short of his 49th test century as he was trapped lbw by Marcus North.
Sachin Tendulkar made two important partnerships. With Rahul Dravid, he made 79-run partnership in the 4th wicket stand and with Suresh Raina, he made 124-run partnership in the 5th wicket stand.
Suresh Raina also played well. He scored 128-ball 86 including 14 boundaries. After his departure, none of India’s remaining batsmen showed any resistance. Adding 51 runs, India lost the remaining 5 wickets.
VVS Laxman bat at number No. 9 due to his back problem. He could not make any impact with the bat. May be his injury forced him not to stay long on the field.
Mitchell Johnson was impressive with the ball as he took five wickets for 64 from 20 overs. However, Doug Bollinger took the first two wickets on day 3. Both Ben Hilfenhaus and Nathan Hauritz also took two wickets apiece.
Australia made a fighting score against the host team in their first innings on day 2. Touring team scored 428 after losing all wickets and it became possible thanks to Australian wicketkeeper Tim Paine’s struggling 92 in the middle order position.
Tim Paine is disappointed after failing to get his maiden test century. He was eight runs away from his first test century before being trapped by Zaheer Khan. Playing 196-ball 92, Tim Paine showed his test temperament. It was his maiden test century in 3rd test.
He also made 53-run partnership with opener Shane Watson in the sixth wicket stand. It helped the Australian cricket team to move to a safe position. If Australia wins or at least draw the match then all the credit should go to Shane Watson because of his brilliant innings of 126 from 338 balls, including 10 boundaries.
After the departure of Shane Watson, Tim Paine made partnership with Mitchell Johnson. Their 82-run partnership in the seventh wicket stand took Australia from 6-275 to 7-357.
This time, none other spinners except the Indian pace spearhead, Zaheer Khan, suffered Australian cricket team. He finished the first innings 5 for 94. It was his 10th 5-wicket haul. Harbhajan Singh also played well as he took three wickets for 114 off 49 overs. Pragyan Ojha took one wicket and the remaining wicket was trapped by run out. Ishant Sharma bowled four overs on second day due to his knee injury.
In reply, India scored 110 for 2. Mitchell Johnson took these two wickets.
Rahul Dravid and Ishant Sharma remained not out at stumps at the end of day two. India made good start as the host team scored 81 runs losing the wicket of Gautam Gambhir in 13.2 overs. Virender Sehwag scored an aggressive 54-ball 59 with 10 boundaries.
Losing the first two wickets, India is now under pressure. The luck of Indian cricket team will largely depend on the remaining batsmen. It will be interesting to see if Indian batsmen can chase the target successfully.
I do not know what is going on in Australian team that is touring India at this moment. Injury has become the biggest rival of the Aussie squad; rather than India. Ponting has already lost Brett Lee, James Hopes and Tim Paine to injury. Yesterday, Peter Siddle’s injury came out and it was ensured that the pacer would miss the rest of the seven-match ODI series due to injury and would go back home immediately.
Now, the latest injury casualty in Australian camp is Moises Henriques. The New South Wales all rounder joined Australian team in India as the replacement of James Hopes. Reports out in the media now suggest that Henriques will also go back home with a hamstring injury without playing any part of the remainder of the ODI series.
You perhaps also know that Australia came to India without their vice-captain Michael Clarke, regular wicketkeeper Brad Haddin and pacer Nathan Bracken as all of them were suffering from various injuries. Now, it seems that Australia has to feature a second string squad in the three remaining matches in the series. Anyway, the series is now level at 2-2 and fifth match of the series is going to take place in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Indiaand Australiaare going to face each other in the fourth match of the ongoing ODI series on 2 November at Mohali. After winning last two games, India is now leading 2-1 in the series. India may not have started very well as they lost the first game by 4 runs, but Dhoni boys bounced back strongly by winning the last two games pretty comfortably. What is more worrying factor is that Australia is suffering a lot due to injuries. Pacer Brett Lee and wicketkeeper batsman Tim Paine have already been out of action, and now reports out in the media suggest that all rounder James Hopes would also go back home with a hamstring injury. However, ahead of the fourth ODI, India is also facing some injury woes as two key batsmen Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are uncertain for the fourth ODI.
Match: Indiavs Australia, Fourth ODI, Seven Match ODI Series 2009
Date: 2 November 2009
Venue: Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
Time: 14:30 Local; 09:30 GMT
Live TV: Neo Cricket, Fox Sports, Sky Sports, DD Sports
India’s confidence is now pretty much strong following two dominating performance over the world champions. However, team Indiaknows it very well that Australia has the resources to come back strongly in the series. Specially, Captain Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey, two key batsmen in Australian top order, have been in excellent form so far in the series. Their performance did not let the Aussies feel the absence of Ponting’s deputy Michael Clarke. In the absence of Tim Paine, Ricky Ponting came to open for Australia alongside Shane Watson, but he might go back to no. 3 where he regularly bats with Shaun Marsh pairing up with Watson in the opening slots.
Australiawould be happy to see some grass at the surface of the wicket, but the absence of Lee may prevent them capitalizing on this advantage. Moreover, the dew factor could play a vital role in the match.
The Australians will also be encouraged by the look of the track with a tinge of grass, but the absence of Brett Lee will haunt them. Still, they hope to see Mitchell Johnson Doug Bollinger, who was impressive in Delhi, and Siddle to come good.
Like in Delhi, the dew will be a major factor as the nights are a lot chillier here than in the national capital. Thus the toss will yet again be the key in determining the course of the game.
Indian middle order has also shown excellent consistency so far in the series. Dhoni played an excellent century in the second ODI followed by a half century in the third match. The only worrying factor for Indiais their opening pair. Indian openers: Sehwag and Sachin, failed to live up to the expectation so far in the series. Moreover, Sehwag and Gambhir are uncertain for the match and would go through a late fitness test to determine if they would be able to play the fourth ODI. Sehwag picked up a knock on his left foot when a Yorker from Peter Siddle hit him during third ODI, while Gambhir was struck by a Ricky Ponting shot while fielding during the third match of the series in New Delhi. So, it seems that neither side can relax ahead of the fourth match.
"Dinesh Karthik will be joining the Indian team in Mohali," BCCI Secretary N. Srinivasan said in a statement.
"A final decision on the availability of Sehwag and Gambhir for the fourth match will be taken on the morning of the game."
Wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Karthik has been called up as the cover for Sehwag and Gambhir. If both of them miss the coming match, Karthik could pair up with Tendulkar to open for India. Indian captain Mahendra Singh could play an extra pacer by seeing grass on the wicket. If Indiareally wants to add an extra pacer, Munaf Patel would be the ultimate choice. Indian spinners have done very well in the last game with Harbhajan Singh getting excellent support from Yuvraj Singh and Ravindra Jadeja.
Australiacould take up a different approach in their batting in the fourth ODI. Australian batsmen started off very well in the third ODI as they could successfully save the wickets, hoping to go for attacks in the slog overs. However, Australia’s lower middle order failed to live up to the expectation and I think, that was one of the major reasons behind their defeat in the third match in New Delhi. So, Aussies might not repeat the mistake and may go for attacks from the very beginning of their innings. Australian pacers have done their part pretty well, but Australian spinners failed in the last game. However, the good thing for the visiting side is that they would get a pacer friendly wicket in Mohali.
Online Live Score and Updates
Here, I am giving some live score and update websites from where you can get the live score and updates of the fourth ODI between Indiaand Australia:
Cricinfo
action8cricket
Stickiewicket
Cricketworld
Cricket Next
Overall, Indiaseems to be slightly favorite, but it does not mean that they can afford to take Australia lightly. They must know that Australian side has quality players who could capitalize on the opponent’s lapses. Given the grassy wicket, I think, fourth ODI would be a huge test for the Indian team who are traditionally not very strong against quality pace attack. However, Australia would feel the absence of injured pacer Brett Lee, while India would also wish if they had Zaheer Khan with them.
For the cricket fans of these two countries, it has perhaps become a prestige issue. Australia won the first ODI and then India captured the second one yesterday very easily. So, now, all the fans are waiting for the result of the third match that is going to take place on this Saturday (31 October 2009). It is a holiday in both the countries. So, you can expect full house crowd in the stadium and millions of TV viewers will enjoy it. Good thing is that it is a day/night match. Now, more than the players the supporters are anxious about the outcome of this match. Whoever wins will take a 2-1 lead in the series.
Indian players were in superb form in the second ODI and they are hoping that they can continue it on this Saturday. Well, the main problem is that their top order batsmen are not in consistent form. They need to be in good touch in front of their home crowd if India has to win the series. Indian wicket is traditionally considered to be good for batting and Indian batsmen are among the best in the world. So, I cannot understand their problem.
For Australia, the main concern is injury. Several of their key players are missing. Even before the series started they were without Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Nathan Bracken and Callum Ferguson. Brett Lee and James Hopes also suffered injury after coming in India and it is not clear whether they will be able to take part in the third match or not. Tim Paine also suffered injury in the last match and Graham Manou will come in place of him. So, in the third match, perhaps we will see some players in Australian eleven whom we do not know that much.
The captain said his team's lack of prowess in bowling at the death had been exacerbated in the past week by the hamstring injury to all-rounder James Hopes, forcing other bowlers to close out the innings in the opening two matches of the series.
…………………………………………………………
With Lee no certainty to regain fitness in time for tomorrow's day-night clash at Delhi, Ponting's only options for strengthening his pace attack at the death are Doug Bollinger, who has taken wickets in only one of his three one-day internationals, and Hopes's temporary replacement, Moises Henriques, who was mauled at the death by West Indian Kieron Pollard in the recent Twenty20 Champions League tournament.
India vs Australia 3rd ODI will take place at Feroz Shah Kotla in Indian capital city Delhi. 40,000 people can watch a match here and I have already predicted earlier that it will be a full house. Anil Kumble took his historic 10 wickets in a test innings in 1999. So, you may want to deduce that it is helpful for spin bowling. May be it is but the problem is that India does not any good spin bowler at this moment. Harbhajan Singhis no longer at his best form. So, it will be some kind of worry for the team.
Australian players are praying deeply that they can get back Brett Lee in the match. He is perhaps the fastest bowler today and he can cause massive damage to any team any day. Indian batsmen are weak when it comes to facing fast bowlers. So, if Brett Lee becomes fit tomorrow in the practice session then it will boost the confidence of Australian team a lot. The form of their leading batsmen is also not consistent. So, in this department, both the two teams have almost similar problem. Well, for Australia, the retirement of Glenn McGrath has remained such a big loss that the team still could not come out of it.
Shane Watson had been emerging as a death bowler of worth but all that good work has been undone in two matches here, while Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus were not precise enough to stop Dhoni.
"It has been (an issue) for a long time, ever since Pigeon (McGrath) moved on, bowling at the death," Ponting said.
"We have mixed and matched trying new guys over the past few years to try and find the guys that can do that well for us.
Dhoni played a great innings in the second ODI and the fans would want something from him again. Some players are calling for him to go to number 3 position and bat. However, he seems to be satisfied with number 5 position.
Indian players and BCCI recently suffered a lot of criticism that IPL is distracting the national team players. This series is a great opportunity to prove the critics wrong.
Although the day is a Saturday, many people will look for live score in Internet and I am giving names of some of the websites:
Cricinfo
Thatscricket
action8cricket
Stickiewicket
We gave live updates of the second ODI yesterday and it was enjoyed by hundreds of visitors. Hopefully, we can do the same for the third ODI on Saturday.
The first of the seven match ODI series between India and Australia is going to take place on 25 October 2009 at the Reliance Stadium, Vadodara. Cricket fans are eagerly waiting for a highly exciting series between two of today’s best ODI teams. Australia goes into the series full of confident following their recent triumph in ICC Champions Trophy 2009, while India looks short of confidence after some ordinary performances over the last few months. However, India could make a strong come back with the series, given that two key batsmen Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh have returned to the Indian squad after recovering from injuries and India will be looking to capitalize on the home advantage.
Match: India vs Australia, First ODI, Seven-match ODI Series
Date: 25 October 2009
Venue: Reliance Stadium, Vadodara
Kick off: 09:00 Local Time (03:30 GMT)
Starting from the ODI series in UAE against Pakistan, Australia has been in excellent form in the limited over cricket. In fact, the Aussies have won 14 out of their last 16 ODI matches. After losing the Ashes series, Australia took a sweet revenge over England by clinching a thumping 6-1 victory in the ODI series against England. Then Australia made an unbeaten run in the Champions Trophy to retain their title.
Naturally, Australian cricketers are full of confident and are looking forward to continuing the momentum in the upcoming ODI series as well. Australia can also take inspiration from their 4-2 victory in ODI series against India in 2007. However, Australian captain Ricky Ponting has said that Australian players must be at their best if they want to beat Australia in the forthcoming series. He admits that India has a very good ODI squad, but he is confident that Australia has played very well over the last few months and is confident of doing well in India too. The batsman has also added that he bears a huge responsibility as top order batsman.
"We (Australia and India) are the number one and two teams in the world and all points to an entertaining and good contest over the next few weeks," Ponting told reporters Wednesday.
"India is a very good and strong one-day team and we are not underestimating them."
"We have played some excellent one-day cricket over the last few months. We need to keep improving and need to be at our best right through the series," Ponting said.
"A lot of responsibility is on my shoulders as the number three batsman in the team. It's really a big challenge to play against India," he said.
Australia has lost its long-standing over the cricket world since the retirement of some of their former greats like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Mathew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist. They have been champion in the last thee ICC World Cup starting from 1999, but their dominance has been reduced significantly because of the retirements of some important players. In fact, Australian team is going through a formation period and now it seems that the new-looking Australian team is growing up gradually. Over the last few months, it was pretty much clear that Australia is developing as a team and it could start dominating over the others in the next couple of years, if they can continue progressing at the current rate.
Australian coach Tim Neilson has said that Australia will face a huge challenge in India and he points out that facing Indian cricket team before the home crowd would be the biggest challenge. He has asked his players to concentrate on the game without thinking much about condition and whom they are playing against.
“The biggest challenge will be confronting the big names of the Indian cricket team in front of their home ground and making sure that we don’t get too emotionally into it, we just concentrate in doing what we do best,” said Neilson, as the visitors took to the nets in Mumbai.
For India, it is a big series and Indian players are gearing up to make a strong come back against the visiting side. India failed to reach the semi final of Twenty20 world cup earlier this year and recently they were crushed out of Champions Trophy from the group stage. Naturally, Indian team is now under pressure. The disappointment of the Indian cricket fans was reflected in the poor crowd turn out during the recently held Twenty20 Champions League. Crickets fans in India are now looking forward to the Australia series and want team India bounce back against the world champions and win the series in style.
The thing is that Indian team may have failed in Twenty20 and Champions Trophy, but India’s performance in the limited over bilateral series has been pretty much satisfactory over the last 10 months. Since the ODI series triumph over England towards the end of the last year, India has not lost any bilateral ODI series so far. India clinched the ODI series in Sri Lanka, New Zealand West Indies and won the Tri Series (involving Sri Lanka and New Zealand) in Sri Lanka, preceding the Champions Trophy. Moreover, India won the 3-match test series 2-0 last year.
So, overall India does not look very weak as a team. Most important thing is that two of their hard-hitting top order batsmen Sehwag and Yuvraj have joined the team and are expected to help India win the ODI series against Australia. India’s overall performance over the last couple of years has been pretty much satisfactory, and India was looking to become the no. 1 team in ODI cricket at the turn of the year. However, Kapil Dev, India’s world cup winning captain, has said that India must win matches consistently, if they want to become no. 1 ranked side in ODI cricket.
"I know they haven't played well during the last few months. But if they want to become number one in the world, the team have to win a lot of matches," Kapil said on the sideline of a function in the city. "I hope India also win the one-day series against the Australians," he added.
It is expected that Australia team could face a big challenge from India’s turning wickets. I am not sure if Vadodara ground would feature a turning track, but there is no doubt, India would like to have a turning wicket where Indian spinners like Harbhajan Singh can take a stern test of the Australian batsmen, who are usually used to playing on pacer-friendly wickets and in different condition in Australia.
Another problem that the touring side could face is the fatigue of the players. Most of the members of the current Australian team has been playing consistently over the last few months. First, they took on England in the Ashes series following by a 7-match ODI series against the same opponent before taking part in the Champions Trophy in South Africa and after that, many of the Australian cricketers played in the Champions League with New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria, both of whom reached the semi final of the tournament, and New South Wales are going to play against Trinidad and Tobago tonight in the tournament final. So, the Australian players who are playing for NSW tonight would have only a day to prepare for the first ODI on Sunday. However, it could also help Australia in some way because these players have been playing in India for the last two weeks. So, they have been adapted to the Indian condition.
For India, they just need to play their natural cricket. They have a very strong batting side in the presence of Sehwag, Sachin, Gambhir, Yuvraj, Raina, Dhoni Jadeja and Kohli. Harbhajan Singh-led Indian spin attack is pretty much strong with Yuvraj Singh back and Jadeja included in the squad. Pace attack includes inform pacer Munaf Patel, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra and Ishant Sharma. There is no doubt, in the absence of Zaheer Khan, India’s pace attack is missing some flair and experience.
Australia has a bunch of young players who are not totally inexperienced. They have two quality all rounder in Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson. Their batting line up features the likes of Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, James Hopes, Shaun Marsh, Watson, Paine, Cameron White, while their pace attack incorporates Brett Lee, Bollinger, Hilfenhaus, Watson, Johnson and Siddle. They have also included two spinners in the squad: Nathan Hauritz and uncapped Jon Holland. Overall, Australia features a excellently balanced squad to take on India.
Live Score and Updates
You can get the live score and updates of the first ODI from the following websites:
Cricinfo
Thatscricket
action8cricket
Stickiewicket
Well, I am not going to pick up any favorite for the first ODI of the series. Confident Australia could face some challenge from Indian spinners on a turning track, while India could face problem in their pace department. Many would wonder how Australian spinners would face India’s spin specialist batsmen. Overall, there are enough indications for an exciting affair between India and Australia.
Cricket fans are now excited with the upcoming ODI series involving India and Australia, two powerhouses of present day cricket. The series includes 7 one-day internationals and begins from 25 October 2009. Australia has just retained the Champions Trophy 2009 title, while India goes into the series on the back of poor performance both in World Twenty20 and Champions Trophy. Naturally, Australia’s confidence level would be pretty high, while India would be looking to make a strong come back with the series.
Cricket is deeply rooted in India where people hold the “eat cricket, drink cricket” culture. At this moment, Twenty20 Champions League 2009 is going on in India, but Indian cricket fans seem to be more interested about the upcoming ODI series between India and Australia. They are eagerly waiting for the series and expecting a strong performance from team India against the world champions. However, India would make a big mistake if they that they would win the series easily, capitalizing on the home condition. They should remember that Australia easily defeated India in their last ODI series in India back in 2007. Australia is also looking to take revenge of last year’s test series defeat in India.
I know that many of you are now desperate to know which television channels will be covering the series. I have found out three TV channels where you can watch the matches live from various parts of the world:
NEO Cricket TV Channel
NEO Cricket television channel holds the official TV rights of India’s home series. So, NEO Cricket will telecast the whole series live for the Indian cricket fans. This is a new sports channel dedicated to cricket and is controlled by Nimbus Communication Pvt Ltd. Well, the channel could be available in some other South Asian countries including Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and in that case, cricket fans can enjoy the series from these countries too. This is a pay channel and you have to be a subscriber of NEO Cricket to enjoy the series.
Fox Sports TV Channel
Australian cricket fans will be bale to enjoy the ODI matches live on Fox Sports television channel. However, you have to be a subscriber of the channel in order to watch the exciting matches because Fox Sports is a pay channel. This is one of the most popular sport channels across the world. They have covered many prestigious cricket tournaments in the past. So, you can expect quality coverage of the ODI series on Fox Sports.
Sky Sports Television Channel
Sky Sports is definitely one of the most popular sports channels in England and some other parts of Europe. So, it is good news for English cricket fans that Sky Sports is going to show the seven matches live for its viewers. Sky has a team of expert commentators. So, you will be provided with quality commentary during the matches on Sky Sports.
Cricket in India is really a big thing and you know that the game is considered as a religion in the country. So, I was not surprised when I read an article on villagers in Vadodara protested against Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) after failing to get the tickets of the first of the seven-match ODI series between India and Australia on 25 October. Yes, there are many cricket fans who are now desperate to get the tickets of the series.
The much-anticipated series kicks off from 25 October in Vadodara and many cricket fans are in search of tickets. Though there is no formal statement from BCCI about how fans can manage to get tickets, it is pretty much expected that tickets will be available at the stadiums on the match-day. However, I know many of you are interested to get your tickets beforehand, in an attempt to ensure that you will be bale to watch the match sitting inside the stadium.
To be honest, I found out very little information about tickets, except the first few ODIs.
First ODI in Vadodara on 25 October
Tickets have already gone on sale through Bank of Baroda. However, people complained that they did not get tickets even after standing in the queue for a long time and only few tickets were sold through the bank. BCA will also sell the tickets from 8 points of the city on the match day.
Second ODI in Nagpur on 28 October
Selling tickets has been started from 19 October for the general cricket fans, even though the tickets were up for sale for the members of the local cricket board and VCA Recreational Club from 15 October to 18 October. Moreover, you can also collect the tickets from the stadium on the day of the match.
Tickets for Rest of the Matches
I am sorry to say that I did not find enough information about tickets of the rest of the matches. However, I can only assume that tickets will be available on the host city few days before the match as well as at the stadium booths on the match day. I guess that you can get your ticket from a local bank assigned by the regional cricket boards.
We assure you that you will find updated information about tickets of the rest of the matches of the series in this article. Whenever there will be news about tickets of other venues, we will definitely let you know. So, keep an eye in this article.
Some Words about Unprofessional BCCI
Since my childhood, I have known that India is a cricket-mad country and India is a big part of world cricket. Capitalizing on the passion of Indian cricket fans, BCCI has been earning millions. Still, BCCI has failed to show professionalism in running the game in the country. Staging a money-making IPL does not mean everything.
I just do not know why BCCI does not update its website regularly and does not provide enough information about tickets in the media, when the fans are dying for a ticket. The more pathetic thing is that they do not even learn from other cricket boards. May be BCCI does not want to bring any change to its traditional approach!
Indian selectors have announced 15-member Indian squad for the first two games of the upcoming seven-match ODI series against Australia at home, starting 25 October 2009. There are some surprises in the squad. The only new face in the team is right arm medium pacer Sudeep Tyagi who has impressed the selectors with his performance in the Challenger Trophy. However, the surprising decision taken by the selectors is the exclusion of experienced middle order batsman Rahul Dravid who was recalled to ODI squad to bolster the middle order in Champions Trophy.
Two key batsmen: Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh- have returned after recovering their respective injuries. Experienced pacer Zaheer Khan was not available for selection as he needs more time to recover his injury. All rounder Yusuf Pathan and pacer RP Singh have lost their places in the squad for their poor form. Pathan could reach two figures only twice in the last 11 innings and bowled only 111.2 overs in his last 30 games, about 3 overs per match. The same happens to RP Singh too. The pacer got a recall after his excellent show in this year’s IPL tournament, but failed to meet the expectations.
Young all rounder Ravindra Jadeja earned a recall thanks to his good performance in Irani Cup and Challenger Trophy tournaments where he performed well both with bat and ball. So, his inclusion in place of Yusuf does not raise any question. Pacer Munaf Patel was also impressive during Irani Cup as he was instrumental behind Rest of India’s first innings lead that eventually decided the winner. So, Munaf’s return does not raise any question too.
Though there is no question about Sudeep Tyagi’s impressive recent form, the exclusion of Abhishek Nayar surely raises some question. He was part of the Indian team in three series, but appeared in 3 games. During these three matches, he could bat only once and remained not out without scoring any run, having faced 7 balls in a 7-wicket victory over West Indies in Champions Trophy 2009. He conceded 17 runs in his 3 overs without any wicket in the 3 games. So, the young all rounder was not given enough chances to prove his skill and talent and I do not think that it was a right decision to exclude him for the Australia series. In this way, a young player like Nayar could lose his confidence and it is not good for Indian cricket. I can still remember the starting years of Yuvraj Singh when he failed to produce any big score innings after innings, but Indian captain Sourav Ganguly had faith in him and supported him. Sometime, Sourav even had to fight with the selectors to keep Yuvraj in the squad and now you can see what Yuvraj means to Indian team. Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan also got these kind of support from Sourav Ganguly.
Now, let us come back to Rahul Dravid story. I just do not understand what selectors had in their mind when they recalled Dravid and what brought an abrupt change in their mind regarding Dravid, one of the most successful ODI batsmen ever. India is going to face a confident Australia in the home series and India’s confidence is not very high, given their recent performance in Twenty20 world cup and Champions Trophy. So, an experienced player like Dravid could have been very crucial for India. With Sehwag and Yuvraj return, it was expected that two batsmen would have to make way for them, and Dinesh Karthik was an automatic exclusion, even though I believe the diminutive wicket-keeper batsman have the quality to play at this level consistently. Selectors were in a dilemma to exclude one between Virat Kohli and Dravid. To me, Kohli should have made way for Dravid.
The most important thing is that Indian selectors must have some specific long term goals while calling up a new face or recalling an experienced player like Dravid. It is true that Kohli’s recent performance is pretty good and he deserves a place in the squad. In that case, I think, selectors should not have called up Sudeep Tyagi for this series because I know that same thing would happen to Tyagi as well, if he fails to live up to the expectation in the upcoming series and this is in no way good for the future of Indian cricket.
Anyway, here I am giving the 15-men Indian squad for the first 2 ODIs of the series from zeenews:
