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By BV Swagath

The other day, I happened to check the stats of some of the Indian batsmen against the Australians. The numbers were hugely shocking for almost every Indian batsman with the exception of Sachin Tendulkar. Even the most reliable Rahul Dravid has a mediocre average of just over 25.00 which simply isn't good enough if India had to match Australia. The same goes with the bowlers who do not have much to show against the Australians. The big question is whether the Indian players are good only against not so quality oppositions?

Twenty20 Cricket seems to be a lot different from the 50-Overs games. And Gilchrist was right in saying that the better team often goes onto win an ODI which isn't the case in T20 Cricket where a small phase of good or bad cricket can change the entire complex of the game. India has done well in patches in this ongoing ODI Series against the Aussies, but whenever they have had the Aussies under pressure, the finishing act didn't come at all from the bowlers. The death bowling from India looks very sloppy with the bowlers slipping in lot of full tosses and length deliveries at a time when they should be keeping it simple by bowling the yorkers. The most senior bowler Zaheer Khan himself hasn't led the attack well with his experience. Although he has been good in his first spell, his bowling in the slogs left a lot to be deserved.

The best bowler in the Indian team of late must be RP Singh who has shown the maturity to move the ball at a sharp pace when it is new with a good bouncer and when it is old, just hitting the blockhole consistently. India made a mistake in not picking him for the Kochi ODI. RP's failure in the first ODI was more because he was still feeling the fatigue of the T20 World Cup where he had bowled his heart out. The other pacer in the side - Sreesanth has got to better talk with the ball rather than with his loud mouth. The way he celebrated after dismissing Andrew Symonds was quite pathetic. Taking a wicket when a batsman has already done all the damage means nothing to the fielding side. Hopefully for the good of Indian Cricket, Sreesanth concentrates more on where he is going to bowl rather than on his one-to-one battle with each batsman. Yes, Sreesanth has been amongst the wickets, but at the same time they have come at a costly rate! Irfan Pathan though has been a welcome inclusion in the side and he seems to be knowing how to bowl according to different situations. Pathan has not only added up a yard or two in his pace (his quickest delivery touching close to 138kmph) but has also picked up on bowling the cutters intelligently when the keeper is standing upto the stumps. The problem for Dhoni has come from the spinners who have let him down completely. Harbhajan Singh and Ramesh Powar have failed to take wickets on a turning track such as the one at Kochi. The team management is probably better off to play Harbhajan only and have an extra batsman in Rohit Sharma down the order.

Batting wise, there are a few positives coming out of the Indian batting. Tendulkar was striking the ball beautifully in his brief stay at Kochi and Robin Uthappa is growing very quickly as a an impact player at this level. It is now upto Robin to lengthen his stay at the wicket to convert his cameos into bigger ones. Sourav Ganguly is almost certain to return to the team for the third ODI at Hyderabad in place of Gautam Gambhir. The Selectors may bring back Virender Sehwag in the team for the remaining ODIs which should be good both for the batting and also the bowling departments. Overall for India to beat the Aussies, most of its batsmen have got to play to their career batting averages and that will be a job half done.

At the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, the wicket might be a sportive one with early life for the seamers. A side winning the toss may look to put the opposition in to make some inroads with the new ball. Just the one ODI has been played at this venue which is designed on the Melbourne Cricket Ground and the Wanderers Stadium. This Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium which is located in Uppal in the outskirts of the city has an excellent drainage system. Even after a downpour, the ground is expected to get dry in just over 30 minutes. We got to wait and watch if the Indian players can pull off a victory against the Aussies. From what has been seen in the news in the last couple of days, the players seem to be busy with all the extra curricular activities. So it remains to be seen if that affects their performance on the ground or not...

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