India will play Australia in the second game of the seven ODI series at Nagpur. Australia beat the Indians in the first game by a narrow margin of four runs, and that has set the tone for an interesting series ahead.

The India would have taken out positives from the game despite having lost it. The biggest of them all is that they would know that a target of near 300 is chaseable against a bowling attack which does not have too much experience of bowling on Indian tracks. And they will know that once under pressure, apart from Brett Lee ,the rest of the bowlers can be taken to the cleaners.

Having said that, they will also realise that their own bowling attack is struggling to come to grips with the games. Harbhajan Singh has already been found wanting in three successive games - except the one against the third string West Indian side - and has conceded more than six runs per over. His form will be a huge worry for the skipper, who also knows that Ishant Sharma hasn't had the best of the times recently.

The batting did well overall, but captain M.S.Dhoni will need at least one of the top three to bat through the innings and see them to a win if possible. Gautam Gambhir had come into this series as the losing captain from the Delhi Daredevils, but most importantly, he had a woeful time with the bat, probably being affected by having to captain the side. The innings of 68 will hold him in a good stead, and one almost gets the feeling that Sehwag and Gambhir should open the innings. Yuvraj Singh should also make a return to the side, which means that the batting line-up will be propped up. In all probabilities, Ravindra Jadeja will have to make way for the swashbuckling left-handed batsman.

From the point of view of the Aussies, they will be happy to go ahead 1-0, but they will know that they have their work cutout. For one, Yuvraj's re-entry would mean that they will need to make fresh plans for him. Secondly, Brett Lee could bowl only six overs in the first game before an elbow injury laid him low. It remains to be seen whether he will make it back to the side for the second game. Mitchell Johnson had also twisted his ankle and despite been fit enough to bowl his quota, it will be interesting to see how he goes about in the second game.

Australia's batting looks compact for now, despite the absence of Clarke and Ferguson, aided no doubt, by the return to form of Michael Hussey who scored a 51-ball 73 in his innings.

Tag :- Australia   Brett Lee   Gautam Gambhir   Harbhajan Singh   India   Michael Hussey   Mitchell Johnson