India look to capitalise on Australia's injury woes
New Delhi | Friday, Oct 30 2009 IST
 

A confident Mahendra Singh Dhoni today said India would look to capitalise on Australia's injury woes and would carry the winning momentum into the third one-dayer when the two sides take on each other at Feroz Shah Kotla here tomorrow.

Australia has a long list of injured players with pace spearhead Brett Lee and all-rounder James Hopes ruled out of tomorrow's match and Ricky Ponting's bowling resources were clearly exposed in the last match against India when the home team amassed 354 for seven.

Dhoni although did concede that India will have to start from scratch, he also claimed that the injuries to the frontline Australian players have put the visitors on the backfoot.

''We are not much bothered about their (Australia's) injuries as we are more focussed on the job at hand. The last match is over and we have to start from the scratch,'' Dhoni told mediapersons after the practice session.

''But yes, it is a huge concern for them (Australia) as they have a lot players injured. In a series like this when you lose some of your experienced players it does put you on the backfoot and Lee is their main bowle so his absence will surely be felt,'' the skipper added.

India had a long practice session this evening and spinner Harbhajan Singh had an extended one as he bowled at the nets close to a couple of hours.

Dhoni admitted that Harbhajan was not at his usual best but was confident that with the experience the off-spinner has, he will bounce back.

''One thing is very clear that Harbhajan is not bowling at his best, may he is just one match away from bouncing back because with the kind of experience he has, it will not take him long to figure out the problem,'' Dhoni said.

The Indian captain, who struck a blistering 124 off just 107 balls in Nagpur, however refused to write off the Australian team and said with the series locked at 1-1, it has now become a five-match series.

The Kotla track, which has become difficult to bat on, has become a talking point and Dhoni admitted that the slow and low nature of the wicket will be something that will be kept in mind at the toss.

''Yes, we did see that it didn't produce that many runs in the Champions League but you can't continue to think about it and not play your natural game.

''It depends on what kind of start you get because then you can change your mind as to what score would be enough.

''Priority is to get a good start. See the first few overs and then you can set a target.'' Dhoni claimed that the win the team learnt its lessons well after the loss in the opening match at Vadodara and said it was heartening to see the running between the wickets of the Indians in the last match at Nagpur.

''Since I don't have that many centuries, so can put all the five hundreds at the top,'' said Dhoni of his century in Nagpur.

''What really was exciting to see was with the way Gautam and I ran between the wickets. We converted 75 per cent of chances into a singles and where there was a one and quarter chance we converted it to a couple,'' he recalled.

Dhoni also quashed suggestions about the change in his batting position saying, ''Every individual in the team has a role and I am happy with the way I am playing my role in the team. Ther's no need ofr a change if things are going well.''

-- (UNI) -- 30SPD41.xml

 

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