India Vs Australia Third ODI - Preview

Just a couple of days for recuperating and the teams will be out again on the ground tomorrow for another intense battle. Thankfully the scheduling of matches in India has improved from what it was a few years ago, and the teams will now be completing all their matches scheduled for southern India before moving upwards. I remember a few years ago when the teams would be criss-crossing entire India in a random fashion and still had only two days in between matches. Anyway back to the current series and the final match in southern India will be played at Hyderabad - my favourite city down under.

This stadium in Hyderabad - Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium will be hosting only its second One Day International. And this one is not known to be as high-scoring as its predecessor in Hyderabad. The earlier ground in Hyderabad was a typical belter. Who can ever forget the Sachin Tendulkar special - 186*- his highest score in ODIs and the record 331 run partnership with Dravid. But things are a bit different at the current ground in Hyderabad. The only ODI played here almost two years ago saw India struggling to reach 250. Also domestically it is known for high-scoring games. So we should see some good contest between the bat and ball tomorrow..

The battle of words between the two teams has been intense in the last two matches. Hope the Indians can tomorrow let the ball and bat do most of the talking.. Aussies have already made their statement in the first two matches. Its time for India to stand up and show that they are here not just to compete but to win. Aussies will be strengthened by the return of their skipper Ponting who has passed a fitness test and should be back to his No. 3 spot tomorrow. As for India Saurav Ganguly is set to return tomorrow and probably Gambhir - the top score for India in the Twenty20 world cup final will have to sit out to make way for him. Hopefully one of the big three will fire tomorrow and show that they still belong to the team. Also a much improved performance from the Indian spinners will be needed if they are to trouble Australia. There is some talk of Sreesanth being made to sit out in tomorrow's match because of his behaviour in the last two matches, which would be utterly moronic. Hope some common sense prevails and he does play tomorrow.

So hopefully it will be a close contest and not a match where the result is known mid-way of second Innings. Win the toss and bat first like any other Indian ground at this time of the year should be the mantra here as well. So lets hope that Dhoni wins the toss and India bat first. That should be their best chance of winning and equaling the series. Indians have it in them to come back in the series. No doubt about it.. Lets hope some key players do fire tomorrow and ensure that the series is a exciting one...