India will face Australia in a crucial game at the Centurion on Monday.
If India loses this game, this will bowl out of the tournament, whereas
for Australia, they would have another chance against Pakistan, if they managed
to lose.
Click for Live Score Card of Australia Vs India
India's loss to Pakistan in the first game would have sent the alarm bells
ringing. The bowling in the middle order was as ordinary as one has seen it
in the last one year or so, as the Pakistanis kept cutting the shorter balls
away to the fence. In fact, it is a known problem with Harbhajan Singh
that he cannot bowl too slow, and that is what prevented him from getting the
ball up to the bat. The Indian quicks will also need to do some soul searching,
especially with Ishant Sharma and R.P. Singh bowling at, what could at
best be described as medium pace. Without too many options to go to, the Indians
will need to get going and prevent the runs from being scored and the only way
of doing it is by picking up the wickets.
The batting did moderately well, but again, the starts weren't converted into
something big. Rather surprisingly, there were two run-outs, and it must be
said that the running between the wickets left a lot to be desired.
The Aussies will look to expose the Indian bowling even further and the one
way they would be thinking of doing that is by not allowing the bowlers to settle
down. The batting will rest in the hands of the middle order of Ricky Ponting
and Michael Clarke - who should be fit enough to play in the game - and
with Cameron White and Callum Ferguson in the lower order, it will ensure
that a repeat of the Pakistan game could occur if the Indian bowlers do not
get going.
It will be the bowling that could concern the Aussies. The issue with the Australian
bowlers is that while they can pick up the wickets, both, Brett Lee and
Mitchell Johnson are ones who leak a lot of runs. The Indian batsmen
could go after the bowlers and score heavily - especially in the Powerplay overs.
With Nathan Bracken out of the tournament, it has left a huge void in the attack
given that it was Bracken who could control the run-rate well. In his place,
the Aussies have Peter Siddle, who again is an attacking bowler, and could act
as a double-edged sword.
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