Well for the past two times in 2007 and 2009, Australia have managed to take home the 7 match one day series in India and against India. That was the time in 2007 when the Australian team, though fresh from its bad memories of losing to India in the semi finals for the world T20 at South Africa, were well fresh from their world cup win early that year. Australia were able to cross the 300 run mark on four occasions out of which one went in vain when in the 1st one dayer at Bangalore Australia scored 316 runs powered by Michael Clarke's 130 only to be washed away by rain.
In that edition of the bilateral series, Australia scored a 4-2 win, with India winning two matches out of fluke and not by hardwork as suggested by the scorecard where in the first match India won by 8 runs and the other one by 2 wickets chasing a mere total of 193 on the board. the case was a lot better in last year's series where India though managed just two wins never were let down by giving the Aussies a run for their money. India managed to cross the 300 run mark on two occasions and on one occasion came close to chasing down 351 empowered by Sachin Tendulkar's 172 which saw India fall short by 3 runs.
In that match, Sachin Tendulkar made news for scoring the maximum number of 150+ scores in ODIs jointly with Sanath Jayasurya. That was Sachin Tendulkar's second score above 170 which was till then enjoyed by only Vivian Richards. The series saw contributions from Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh along with Sachin and Sehwag. Team work was evident like never before in team India. But still, that was not enough for India fell short by 2 matches to take home the series. Now, team India once again is bound to face Australia like last year but without Sachin Tendulkar which has to be thought about seriously.
And, with so many drawbacks in team India, Mitchell Johnson's idea to strike India with the SG cricket ball is foolish. He could not hurt the already dead Pakistan with his fast moving deliveries despite Pakistan being desperate to lose. So was the case in the bilateral series involving England which Australia lost by a 2-3 margin. Now, with Australia's chances being high in the series against India, is Mitchell Johnson trying to make room for himself and take credit for something not happening because of him? Well, India is now short of bowlers and batsmen are in the que to take honors Mitchell!
1 comment:
India will not be without Sachin Tendulkar. There is no way he will opt out of such an important series.
In fact, the 2-Test and 3-ODI tour is meaningless. But given the context that India has just 8 more ODIs in home conditions before the World Cup next year, there is no way that Sachin will sit out of the series against Australia or New Zealand.
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