India start favourite against injury-hit Australia

The vistors are struggling to cobble together a fighting eleven as they will be without wicket-keeper Tim Paine, fast bowler Brett Lee and all-rounder James Hopes.

The hosts on the other hand are in full strength and look all set to take advantage of the slow and low pitch to retain the momentum in their favour.

With the seven-match series tied 1-1, odds favour the hosts to take the lead but under estimating the rivals may prove costly.

The big win in Nagpur has boosted the confidence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men, but they will have to sustain the form and keep themselves focused.

Though the top order did not click at Vadodra, the batsmen barring Sachin Tendulkar, displayed their awesome form at Nagpur as they decimated the Australian bowling.

Dhoni led from the front with a quick-fire 124 off 107 balls while Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir along with Suresh Raina added to the bulging Indian kitty with lusty strokeplay.

However, Indian bowling especially Harbhajan's form is a cause of concern. But Dhoni was not worried saying the bowlers have done their job well.

Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar are in form, while Ravindra Jadeja has justified his inclusion with display of good spin bowling ''All the bowlers did well. Ashish Nehra is at his usual impressive form, Ishant Sharma is continuing with his good show and good thing is Praveen Kumar has come up good as well,'' Dhoni said adding, ''Ravindra Jadeja came in late but got three crucial wickets in the last game.'' To add to that, the options in the slow bowling department would be an advantage for the Indians on the low and slow Kotla strip.

Dew will be another important factor and both the captains will have that in mind when they go out for the toss.

For the visitors there seems to be no end to their injury woes.

Lee missed Nagpur match because of an elbow injury and is again not fit for tomorrow's tie.

In-form wicketkeeper-bastman Tim Paine has got his finger broken and has been ruled out of the remaining series. He has been replaced by rookie Graham Manou, who will make his ODI debut.

The injuries to the key players has weakened the World Champions and a fragile bowling attack has increased their misery.

Though the visitors won the first match by four runs, they never really looked dominating and Ricky Ponting would be praying that rest of his side will rise to the occassion.

''It will be like starting from the scratch in Delhi,'' Ponting admitted adding, ''Hopefully, we will improve in the areas where we did not do well and we will bounce back.'' ''Ever since Glenn McGrath has moved out, the death overs have been a problem,'' he added.

The teams India: (from): Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra, Sudeep Tyagi, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja.

Australia: (from): Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Hussey, Doug Bollinger, Nathan Hauritz, Jon Holland, Ben Hilfenhaus, Shaun Marsh, Graham Manou, Peter Siddle, Adam Voges, Shane Watson, Brett Lee and Cameron White.

Hours of play: 2:30 pm to 6 pm; 6 40 pm till close.

-- (UNI) -- 30SPD35.xml

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