The fifth game of the rather long and arduous seven game series between India and Australia will be played in Hyderabad, as the tourists continue to battle injuries to overcome the hosts. The series is tied at two games apiece, and despite having numerous opportunities, the Indians failed to get away to a win and hence, a 3-1 score-line at Mohali.

India will be more aggrieved than the Aussies. The tourists have already lost half their main side and yet, the score line is only 2-2. One would have thought that with a line-up that is almost their second string one, the Aussies would have been push-overs, but the Indians failed to take advantage of all that in previous game.

Unfortunately for the Aussies, despite feeling happy about the result, they were jolted again with the news that Peter Siddle has been ruled out of the rest of the series with a side strain, that means that he is the seventh Australian player to get injured before or during this series. He joins the ranks of Brett Lee and James Hopes, two Aussie bowlers who have already flown back home with issues with their fitness.

In all probabilities, Siddle's replacement in the side will be Ben Hilfenhaus, but there is a reasonable chance that Clint McKay could also get a look-in. After all, the Indians have this habit of allowing a new bowler to bowl extremely well - as has been the case with Doug Bollinger - as they find it difficult to get used to the opposition.

The Aussie batting, for now, looks good enough, but one also gets a sense that their approach is not entirely without fear. The batsmen are worried that a wicket or two could lead to a collapse because of which they are a lot slower than they actually should be.

In contrast, the Indians wasted a quick start that Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar provided them with, and that is something that the likes of M.S.Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh need to be careful. One gets a feeling that Suresh Raina is getting wasted at the number six position, and he could be promoted up the order, with Virat Kohli to bat at six.

The Indian bowling has operated well, but with the Aussies going after Ishant Sharma as a strategy, he will need to find out ways to bowl at them. Harbhajan Singh looks to be getting back into his rhythm, as his batting looks to be rubbing on to his bowling as well - it won't be a bad idea to try and get him to smack a few up the order during the Powerplay overs!

Tag :- Australia   Doug Bollinger   Harbhajan Singh   India   James Hopes   Peter Siddle   Sachin Tendulkar   Yuvraj Singh