After opening with a bad display on Saturday, India has a tough task to face today as they take on Australia at Centurion. Among the four teams in group A, Pakistan are in a strong position to qualify for the semis as they have won their matches against India and West Indies. Australia have won their first match while West Indies and India have not won even a single match. Only the top two teams will advance to the semi-finals.
Against Pakistan, only Indian left arm seamer Ashish Nehra impressed finishing with 4/55. And Dhoni said, “We didn’t bowl well. I tried whatever we had, but the captain can’t really go and bowl. At the end of the day, the bowlers have to go and bowl. It’s all about adapting to conditions. We should have adapted to the conditions. We could have done a lot better. Frankly speaking, I thought I was short of three bowlers. I didn’t know who to turn to.”
The Indian bowlers cannot afford to have another off-day as defending champions Australia have a strong batting line-up.
Australia’s depth in batting was on view in their opening match against the West Indies on a difficult track in Johannesburg on Saturday, where they managed to reach 275/8 after being 171/7 at one stage.
The pitch at Centurion is expected to favour batsmen more than fast bowlers as Pakistan showed against India on Saturday, with Shoaib Malik scoring a brisk century and Mohammad Yousuf making an 88-ball 87.
Australia are likely to field the same side that beat the West Indies by 50 runs, with batsman Michael Clarke still doubtful due to a back pain.
India, already without key batsman Yuvraj Singh due to a finger injury, will also need to bat better against Australia having excellent fast bowlers in Brett Lee and Johnson.
Teams (from):
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt.), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Rudra Pratap Singh, Amit Mishra, Dinesh Karthik, Abhishek Nayar, Virat Kohli.
Australia: Ricky Ponting (Capt.), Michael Clarke, Callum Ferguson, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, James Hopes, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Tim Paine, Peter Siddle, Adam Voges, Shane Watson, Cameron White.
After opening with a bad display on Saturday, India has a tough task to face today as they take on Australia at Centurion. Among the four teams in group A, Pakistan are in a strong position to qualify for the semis as they have won their matches against India and West Indies. Australia have won their first match while West Indies and India have not won even a single match. Only the top two teams will advance to the semi-finals.
Against Pakistan, only Indian left arm seamer Ashish Nehra impressed finishing with 4/55. And Dhoni said, “We didn’t bowl well. I tried whatever we had, but the captain can’t really go and bowl. At the end of the day, the bowlers have to go and bowl. It’s all about adapting to conditions. We should have adapted to the conditions. We could have done a lot better. Frankly speaking, I thought I was short of three bowlers. I didn’t know who to turn to.”
The Indian bowlers cannot afford to have another off-day as defending champions Australia have a strong batting line-up.
Australia’s depth in batting was on view in their opening match against the West Indies on a difficult track in Johannesburg on Saturday, where they managed to reach 275/8 after being 171/7 at one stage.
The pitch at Centurion is expected to favour batsmen more than fast bowlers as Pakistan showed against India on Saturday, with Shoaib Malik scoring a brisk century and Mohammad Yousuf making an 88-ball 87.
Australia are likely to field the same side that beat the West Indies by 50 runs, with batsman Michael Clarke still doubtful due to a back pain.
India, already without key batsman Yuvraj Singh due to a finger injury, will also need to bat better against Australia having excellent fast bowlers in Brett Lee and Johnson.
Teams:
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt.), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Rudra Pratap Singh, Amit Mishra, Dinesh Karthik, Abhishek Nayar, Virat Kohli.
Australia: Ricky Ponting (Capt.), Michael Clarke, Callum Ferguson, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, James Hopes, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Tim Paine, Peter Siddle, Adam Voges, Shane Watson, Cameron White.
Tags: Australia vs India, ICC Champions Trophy 2009
