The sixth game of the ODI series between India
and Australia will be played at Guwahati on Sunday. And this will be
a day game, which will mean that the team fielding first could have a distinct
advantage with the moist pitch conditions.
The Indians would be heart-broke like most of the fans. It was a clear cut
case of so-near-yet-so-far for them, as they choked towards the end like they
had in the first game of the series. At least in the first game it was a matter
of two tail-enders getting India close and then losing; here, it was Sachin Tendulkar and Ravindra Jadeja batting and not being able to cross
the line despite needing only 19 off 18 balls.
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It will need a lot for the Indians to regroup after such a loss. In fact, it
would be interesting to see whether they can get together and try and overcome
the loss, get it out of their system and try and win the game at Guwahati. They
are already trailing in the series, 2-3, and need to win both their remaining
games.
On the other hand, Australia was down to 13 men in this game, and chose to
give their new guy, Clint McKay a chance to strut his feathers. He went on to
claim three wickets, and now there is a decent chance that Mitchell Johnson
will come back for the sixth game and Ben Hilfenhaus could have to sit out.
The Indian batting left a lot to be desired. Except Tendulkar and Raina, none
of the other batsmen got going and that was appalling given that the pitch was
one of the best for batting. The Aussies had showed it earlier, and Tendulkar
and Raina displayed it later that if one batted in a normal manner on it, the
runs would come. The Guwahati pitch would be a different ball game altogether.
The ball will swing around a little to begin and batting won't be that easy.
While Virender Sehwag will continue to throw his bat at everything, it was surprising
to see that Gautam Gambhir was trying to do the same and in the end got out.
He will have to tighten up his technique and first, try and get a start before
playing the airy fairy shots.
For Australia, the batting line-up will remain largely untouched. They will
probably go in with the same top order, with an outside chance that Andrew McDonald
could replace Adam Voges. For now though, they will be supremely confident and
in running to make it 4-2.
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