Stage set for Sachin special

Sachin Tendulkar, who has been in focus for all of two decades of an illustrious career, will go into the fourth match of the one-day series against Australia with a familiar burden of expectations.

The Little Master has fond recent memories of the venue, having surpassed Brian Lara’s Test record of runs here last year, also against the Aussies. However, reaching a new landmark of 17,000 ODI runs, which he is just 47 away from, may not be as important as his role in the outing because of the possible absence of two experienced top-order batsmen.

Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are doubtful after sustaining injuries in the third match at Delhi, resulting in an SOS call to Dinesh Karthik. Sehwag suffered a foot injury off a Peter Siddle yorker, while Gambhir got hurt on the neck while fielding at short-leg.
Tendulkar, who had scores of 14 and four in the first two matches, was shaping well when he was run out for 32 in the third match. It eventually took a Herculean effort from Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni to overcome a challenging 230-run target on an unfriendly pitch, but the Indian team would not like to be in a situation similar to the 53-3 as in the last match.

Though this series has been marred by a number of injuries — Brett Lee being ruled out may be the most important one thus far — the matches have managed to carry a lot of intensity. The bench strengths of the two sides are bound to be tested through the seven matches, and considering that they are two of the top sides in this version, it is just as well that it is a real test of depth.

Seeing the crowds at the stadiums so far, the threat of an overkill of India-Australia cricket does not seem a likelihood in the immediate future, at least in the shorter versions. Though Mohali failed to draw in crowds when Tendulkar became the highest run-getter in Tests, things are likely to be different here for an ODI on Monday, a public holiday for Guru Purab (Guru Nanak’s birthday).

There is also the possibility of a run feast on the home turf of BCCI’s grounds and pitches committee chairman Daljit Singh, despite the possibility of lateral movement in the colder environs.

Singh avers that not only will the pitch play true but the outfield will also be fast owing to a change in grass recently. “The pitch will have a good bounce and carry. The team batting first should be able to make a score in excess of 300 if they bat well. The ball will also travel fast in the outfield. I would say the crowds can expect to see 550 runs being scored on this ground,” he said.

The batting form of Dhoni and Yuvraj would be giving the Indians confidence for this match, but more importantly also that of the reasonably better performance by the seamers in recent matches.

“Ishant Sharma has been bowling well and the seamers have generally been bowling as per plan. That gives us a lot of confidence,” skipper Dhoni had said after India went 2-1 ahead in the last match  in New Delhi.