 |  | India Vs Australia | |
Venue :3rd One Day International, Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, Margao, Goa | |||
India are 1-0 up in the three match series with only one game to go. Things look good for India ahead of New Zealand assignment. It is very evident from attitudes of both teams that the one day series is an unimportant one and both the teams are looking beyond the series, perhaps the World Cup. Big names from both the teams are missing.
This has made series interesting as it gives a chance of youngsters of both the countries to shine and reserve a birth for the Subcontinent World Cup next year.
India would enter to play at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Goa with little worries. They already have an uncatchable lead against a battling Australian team. Perhaps the only worry in the Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni mind would be their fast bowlers. But again India have learned to live with that worry.
They will be a compact unit with many of their players in confidence and fancying to shine in front of home crowd. One thing that seemed to have gone milder is the fact that these two are bitter rivals who cherish and celebrate every victory over each other. This would motivate this new look Indian team to carry on and snatch only chance of victory from Australia on this tour. Virat Kohli was magnificent in the last game and would like to be backbone of Indian batting on 24th October. India had chased a big target of 290 with relative ease and therefore will be upbeat for another run fest.
India have won three of their last five games.
Australia, with the Ashes coming up, World Cup in the corner, nothing seems to be going right for them. Australia like India were missing big names but the performance on 20th October exposed the serious lack of depth in an aging Australian side. Michael Clarke, few doubt his ability to lead, seemed out of options with his bowlers.
Australia, more than any team in the world would want to win now. They have been humiliated for far too long by England, Pakistan and now India. They certainly would look to level the series on Sunday and restore some pride and confidence. Their batsmen would be at ease having put up a decent show last time around, but their ground fielding and bowling needs serious improvement if they want to win on 24th October. Australia have a history of making comebacks form lowly positions. We can have a compelling game in store for us in Goa on Sunday.
Australia have managed to win two of their last five games.
