India batsmen need to fire in crucial game
Posted on Nov 04, 2009 at 13:12 | Updated Nov 04, 2009 at 19:37
0 Comments
Hyderabad: With the seven-match series tantalisingly poised 2-2, India will have to overcome their batting shortcomings when they go into the crucial fifth One-dayer against a spirited but depleted Australia here on Thursday.
India, seeking to dethrone Australia from the number one spot in world rankings, will be strengthened by the expected rerun of Gautam Gambhir, who had to skip last match due to a neck injury.
Although the left-hander Gambhir's presence will lend solidity to the top order, the worrying factor for the hosts has been the lack of good starts in the series so far.
Clearly the onus is on the Indian batsmen to deliver the goods on a track which according to the curator has plenty of runs to offer but will also aid the bowlers.
Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar have put on stands of 25, 21, 37 and 40, and the home team would be hoping this can be extended to something closer to the hundred mark which would be the ideal platform for Gambhir, Yuvraj, Dhoni and Raina to launch a blitz later on.
Tendulkar is on the verge of reaching another milestone in his glittering career as he his just seven runs short of touching the 17,000 run-mark and the champion batsman would take inspiration from the moment to score big.
"We failed as a batting unit. We should have batted the full 50 overs but that was not possible because we kept losing wickets at regular intervals," India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had said after the defeat in the previous match.
While the Indians have their task cut out for the flood-lit encounter the Aussies have been grappling with a spate of injury problems ever since the series began.
The latest to join the casualty list is Moises Henriques. Besides, Peter Siddle has returned home because of a side-strain as the visitors have already lost the services of pace spearhead Brett lee, stumper Tim Paine, and all-rounder James Hopes.
Dhoni's men did a remarkable turnaround after narrowly losing the first ODI at Vadodara but a shoddy batting display in the fourth match saw the hosts handing back the advantage to Ricky Ponting's outfit.
Another batting failure could spell disaster in Thursday's match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium at Uppal as the team that wins the clash is sure to hold a huge advantage in the final outcome of the rubber, with the last two ties scheduled at Guwahati (day) and Mumbai (day/night).
| Ads by Google |
Be the first to comment.