So India get ready for a do-or-die clash against the world champions Australia on Monday. For the Men in Blue it is a must-win clash as another loss will slip them out of the contention in the last four stage, a situation MS Dhoni will like to avoid at best and not think of it et all.
The Aussies managed to JUST win their clash against a depleted West Indies side and will like to keep up their momentum into this big clash.
If Dhoni has to put a better fight against the Aussies, the defensive mindset of Dhoni needs to change. India’s issues stem mainly from their bowling which looks depleted after Zaheer Khan and now Yuvraj Singh being ruled out. India will have to bring in Praveen Kumar who has the ability to swing the ball in helpful conditions.
Dhoni paid heavily for using Virat Kohli and Yusuf Pathan while holding Harbhajan Singh back to cover for the lack of options.
What does Dhoni need to do?
Firstly, bring in Praveen Kumar in place of the out-of-sorts of RP Singh and get in Amit Mishra in place of Yusuf Pathan. Yes, tough call on RP who has bowled his heart out but Yusuf needs to earn his place than expecting things to be in his favour despite being so casual at the crease.
It is clear that the top three — Tendulkar, Gambhir and Dravid — will have to carry India’s challenge. Dhoni has evolved as a batsman and Raina provides powerful impetus in the lower order, but they have to bat together for longer periods.
Against Pakistan’s mammoth dig worth 206 for the fourth wicket, the best India could come up with was worth 72, also for the fourth wicket between Dravid and Raina. For their part, Australia survived a testing encounter at the Wanderers against the West Indies on Saturday.
Australia depend a lot on their frontline bowlers to fire and Sachin Tendulkar will have to lead the way against his most preferred team and once that happens the rest of jigsaw puzzle should fall in place.
Will it be super start to the week for the Indians or will the Men in Blue go with a mundane Monday? Read this space for more tomorrow!
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