Melbourne experienced intermittent drizzle for the whole of Wednesday but Sydney, the venue of the third match of the tri-series, experienced heavy rains.
It’s the middle order that looks shaky, with Yuvraj struggling to get into his groove
MELBOURNE: There seems to be no let-up in the wet weather in Australia. Melbourne experienced intermittent drizzle for the whole of Wednesday but Sydney, the venue of the third match of the tri-series, experienced heavy rains. The forecast for the next three days is not encouraging, which means the Sri Lanka-Australia contest at the SCG faces yet another washout but Melbourne is expected to have a clear sunny sky on Sunday, when India are scheduled to play Australia.
A good three days is good enough time for Mahendra Singh Dhoni & Co to do some introspection, particularly in batting. Even the most optimist among the Indian fans would have thought twice before betting on Indian wins in Brisbane. They were in trouble in both matches. It could well be said it was luck rather than bad luck that got India four points from two matches.
The batting is, no doubt, the team’s Achille’s Heel. India failed to last 20 overs in the T20 game in Melbourne, got all out for 194 in the first ODI, and were in danger of being bowled inside 50 overs in the second game. But for a chancy century from Gautam Gambhir, the brittleness in the batting would have been woefully exposed.
The main worry is the inexperience in the middle order. In the absence of Yuvraj Singh, the chief oxygen supplier, the young batsmen are finding the alien conditions too difficult to master. Rohit Sharma has been stylish but not effective. Manoj Tiwary was clueless in the one game he played. Dinesh Karthik no more looks the player he once was.
“We could have avoided this situation had we sent the ODI team about 7 days in advance. They are struggling no doubt,” agrees Chetan Chauhan, a former India batsman and the manager of the team. “These boys are finding the grounds too big, pitches too bouncy and the conditions too different.”
Besides, the Australians seem to have done a lot of homework on the Indians. Brett Lee said they have multiple plans for each Indian batsmen. Yuvraj rubbished the claims as “big talk” but Lee & Co bowled for them out for less than 100 in the T20 game and less than 200 in the first ODI.
Tuesday’s 267 cannot be called a true index of Indian batting because the Sri Lankans were too rusty on the field, the throws were invariably inaccurate and bowling was not imaginative. From 83 for 4, India would have struggled to cross even 200 against Australia.
The absence of Yuvraj is a setback but the middle order batsman doesn’t seem to have fully recovered. “We’ll not try him on Tuesday. I will rather want him to wait till February 10 and get fully fit,” Dhoni had said before the match, confirming that his deputy was not fit for the Sri Lanka game. Yet, he walked into the XI, looking a pale shadow of his own self. Muttiah Muralitharan didn’t need too many balls to fox him. Dhoni’s form is good news as is Gambhir’s consistency but the openers — Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar — have to come into their own soon, particularly against Australia.
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