Defending World Cup champions Australia take on a highly-ranked India side in the second quarter-final match at Ahmedabad’s Sardar Patel Stadium tomorrow, March 24.
In what is hoped and expected to be a very tightly contested battle for a semi-final berth against Pakistan, a lot may depend on whether star batsman Virender Sehwag wins his battle to be fit in time for the clash tomorrow.
India have been left sweating on the fitness of their leading run scorer since he suffered a knee infection which kept him out of the side during last week’s victory over the West Indies. Mahendra Singh Doni, the Indian captain, announced that Sehwag will undergo a late fitness test either tonight or in the morning.
Australia meanwhile go into this clash still reeling from their defeat to Pakistan, which ended their 34 game World Cup unbeaten run. They also have their own share of batsmen problems, with both Ricky Ponting and Cameron White struggling for form so far in this tournament.
The 36 year old Ponting, who earlier denied reports he was quitting the international game after this tournament, has struggled with a batting average of just 20.40 during six matches in the group phase. Is the pressure starting to affect the veteran captain? Tomorrow is going to be one of his toughest tests yet, with the whole of the cricketing world wondering if the match may be his last.
Perhaps then, this duel will come down to the performance of two of the world’s best bowling attacks, rather than the batsmen. Australia boasts a fearsome pace attack led by the in-form Brett Lee, while India’s spinners Harbhajan Singh and Patel are performing at the top of their game right now.
India in particular may have cause to fear the Australian’s pace attack, having experienced a series of late batting collapses in the tournament so far. Most spectacularly, they crashed against South Africa, losing nine wickets for just 29 runs, while matches against England and the West Indies saw them lose seven for 33 and seven for 50.
One man who may be able to put up a fight though is Sachin Tendulkar. The legend is still just one century away from a career total of 100 international centuries. Tomorrow’s clash will be the most opportune timing if he succeeds in reaching his target, with India being absolutely desperate to reclaim the World Cup crown that they last held almost 30 years ago.
Probably Teams:
India – MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, R. Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel.
Australia – Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin (wk), David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson, Cameron White, Mitchell Johnson, Jason Krejza, Brett Lee, Shaun Tait.
In what is hoped and expected to be a very tightly contested battle for a semi-final berth against Pakistan, a lot may depend on whether star batsman Virender Sehwag wins his battle to be fit in time for the clash tomorrow.
India have been left sweating on the fitness of their leading run scorer since he suffered a knee infection which kept him out of the side during last week’s victory over the West Indies. Mahendra Singh Doni, the Indian captain, announced that Sehwag will undergo a late fitness test either tonight or in the morning.
Australia meanwhile go into this clash still reeling from their defeat to Pakistan, which ended their 34 game World Cup unbeaten run. They also have their own share of batsmen problems, with both Ricky Ponting and Cameron White struggling for form so far in this tournament.
The 36 year old Ponting, who earlier denied reports he was quitting the international game after this tournament, has struggled with a batting average of just 20.40 during six matches in the group phase. Is the pressure starting to affect the veteran captain? Tomorrow is going to be one of his toughest tests yet, with the whole of the cricketing world wondering if the match may be his last.
Perhaps then, this duel will come down to the performance of two of the world’s best bowling attacks, rather than the batsmen. Australia boasts a fearsome pace attack led by the in-form Brett Lee, while India’s spinners Harbhajan Singh and Patel are performing at the top of their game right now.
India in particular may have cause to fear the Australian’s pace attack, having experienced a series of late batting collapses in the tournament so far. Most spectacularly, they crashed against South Africa, losing nine wickets for just 29 runs, while matches against England and the West Indies saw them lose seven for 33 and seven for 50.
One man who may be able to put up a fight though is Sachin Tendulkar. The legend is still just one century away from a career total of 100 international centuries. Tomorrow’s clash will be the most opportune timing if he succeeds in reaching his target, with India being absolutely desperate to reclaim the World Cup crown that they last held almost 30 years ago.
Probably Teams:
India – MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, R. Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel.
Australia – Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin (wk), David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson, Cameron White, Mitchell Johnson, Jason Krejza, Brett Lee, Shaun Tait.
