Agencies
Melbourne, Jan 16: Down 0-2 in the five-match ODI series against Australia, visitors India have no option but to win the third game here Sunday if they are to remain alive. And to stop the rampaging Australians, the Indians have no choice but either to chase or to put up a total that will not be reachable, keeping in minding the frailties of their bowling which has been exposed brutally in the first two games.
Rarely does one see a side putting up two successive scores of 300-plus and yet lose both the games. It doesn’t speak highly of the Indian bowling which has been milked and slaughtered by the Aussie batters in the first two games of the series. The MCG pitch here has in the past helped the Indian spinners and MS Dhoni would desperately be hoping that the two ‘Ravi’s – Ashwin and Jadeja do something to stop the marauding Australians. The two have bowled 37 overs in the first two ODIs and have conceded 229 runs (well over six runs per over) and have only three wickets to show for their efforts.
It is a fact that India may opt to drop a spinner to strengthen the batting so that if they bat first, they can at least put up a 330-340 score and then hope that with the extra runs in hand, the bowlers will come good. But then there is also the risk of getting bowled out for a below par score in their haste to get to an unbeatable total. Dhoni knows this but is helpless.
“What else can I do,” he stated after the game Friday. “I can only extol the batsmen to score more runs so that the bowlers have more cushion. When you can’t defend twice 300-plus scores then that is the only other option left.
“Or the next best option is to chase. But that is not entirely in my hands. I have to win the toss or hope that Australia elects to bat first,” added the Indian skipper.
But for the Indians the writing is clear on the wall. The Aussie margin of victories in both the games has amply demonstrated the poor quality of the Indian bowling. Unless the Wizards of Oz provide some magic wand for the Indian bowlers, the series will definitely swing Australia’s way Sunday.
