The lone T20 International between India and Australia to be played at the Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) stadium in Kandheri, near Rajkot, on Thursday is expected to whet the appetite before the main course, a seven-match ODI series starting in Pune from October 13. So, the focus during the media interaction with the two captains - MS Dhoni and George Bailey - on Wednesday revolved mainly around the ODI series.
But that is understandable. Teams are building for the 2015 World Cup and what better opportunity to check one's armoury than a long series like this where you can iron out your flaws, make amends and can come back to test your potential a few more times.
Dhoni underlined this fact when he said: "It is a long series and there is plenty of time to come back even if you lag behind at the initial stage. It is quite different from a five-match series where the team with an early lead always holds the advantage."
Talking of the match on Thursday, there is a possibility of the weather spoiling the party. It rained heavily on Tuesday which left the practice pitches wet.
Water had seeped through the covers but that was not bad enough to call off the practice session on Wednesday. It remained cloudy all through the day with the sun peeping out only for a while in the afternoon.
There is forecast of more rains in this part of the country till October 13, so it is anybody's guess.
If the match does happen, India will try to capitalize on home advantage and take off with a win. The last time these teams met in this format was during the World T20 in Sri Lanka last year, where Australia defeated India by nine wickets with more than five overs to spare.
Despite all members of the Indian team featuring in the highly competitive IPL and Indian teams winning the Champions League T20 three out of the five times it has been played, the former T20 world champions' record in the shortest version of the game is not very healthy. So, there's need to set the record straight.
0 comments:
Post a Comment