| How does a team pick itself up after having its gut wrenched out three days ago? That is the question MS Dhoni and his men must address after the debacle of the fifth ODI against Australia. |
| After a steady improvement in the bowling post the Champions Trophy, the bowlers seemed to be back to square one in the last match. True, the pitch was a batting beauty, but that only meant that the bowlers should have bowled tighter lines, and in no way excuses short and wide bowling or balls drifting down the leg-side for easy pickings. The fielders were equally culpable as the age-old disease of converting ones into twos and twos into threes for the opponents manifested itself yet again. It is a strange thing with the Indian fielding – whether there is a fielding coach or not, whether the team is filled with young players or old, whether a special fielding camp is held prior to a series or not – nothing seems to change. The current Indian team must believe in themselves more on the field and not wilt under pressure. They need to only look back at the fourth ODI, in which the same team put up a sterling performance to know that they can do it. The only thing is, they must do it more often. |
| The batting is less prone to crumbling under pressure than the fielding, although they have tried hard to catch up with their performances in the previous two matches. However, with the quality of the top 5 and with an undeniably talented Raina coming in at number 6, the batting always remains a threat under any total or any conditions. As Dhoni rightly said though, the top order must fire in unison. With batting being India’s stronger suit by some distance, the batsmen have to fire together for two matches running if India are to avoid the humiliation of losing a series to a second-string Australian team. |
| The Australians for their part, have been remarkable. A large number of players in the eleven know that they wouldn’t be the first choice picks under normal circumstances, but what they lack in skill they have made up in heart. They have shown that it is true of any Australian cricketer that giving up the match is just not encoded in their DNA. They have been under pressure – sometimes intense pressure – in each of the three matches they have won so far, but each time their never-say-die spirit has pulled them through. And their inherent mental toughness has ensured that players have stepped up when it counted. |
| So a Doug Bollinger comes on to bowl in a fashion that makes it appear as if he was always in the first choice playing eleven, a Clint McKay bowls a slower ball to Sachin Tendulkar batting on 175 runs, and a Shane Watson produces fire, aggression and hostility in each of his spells. They will still need their batting to fire, but where their bowlers have an advantage over their Indian counterparts is in the support they get on the field. Ricky Ponting alone is worth two fielders, and he has virtually cut out the option of a quick single everytime the ball comes to him, such is the speed with which he anticipates and then releases the ball back to the bowler. Their batting has been their strength though, and Michael Hussey has yet to fail in the series, while Ponting has failed to cross 40 just once. The Indian bowling will need to do something special to keep these two in check. |
| The pitch at Guwahati is a newly relaid one, and the curator insists that it will be a 300+ wicket, even though it has proven to be bowler friendly in the past. The weather is forecast to be sunny, but early morning fog and and early sunset could potentially cause some delays. |
| Finally, it is impossible to look ahead to this match without looking back at Sachin Tendulkar’s virtuoso solo performance in the previous one. If the hurt he felt at the conclusion of that match can spur him on to greater determination and a renewed sense of vengeance, then all of India will soon rejoice as the wounds from the match before are soothed. If, on the other hand, the match would have temporarily broken his spirit and dulled his resolve, then his team-mates owe it to him to pull of something special and not let his monumental effort go in vain. |
| Trivia: |
| 4: The number of 150-plus scores Tendulkar has registered – the most in ODIs, equaling Sanath Jayasuriya’s record. |
| 92.66: Michael Hussey’s batting average for the series, the highest from either side. He scored fifties in each of the first 3 matches. |
| Soundbytes: |
| “It is a great win for the boys and I am really happy to see some of the young guys doing well. It’s a really good sign for the team,” Ponting is pleased with how well his inexperienced side has played so far. |
| “When he plays more and more games, he will learn. It is tough, but he shouldn’t be pointed out. He is doing the job for us. He is bowling well, he is a great fielder. He is learning the art of batting at this level. As long as he keeps learning from every game, it is fine,” Dhoni defends Jadeja after the latter was run-out at a crucial juncture in the 5th ODI. |
| Teams: |
| India (From): Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni(w/c), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, Sudeep Tyagi |
| Australia (From): Shaun Marsh, Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting(c), Cameron White, Mike Hussey, Adam Voges, Graham Manou(w), Nathan Hauritz, Clint McKay, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger, Mitchell Johnson, Jon Holland, Burt Cockley |
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[...] How does a team pick itself up after having its gut wrenched out three days ago? That is the question MS Dhoni and his men must address after the debacle.Read More [...]