« Back to article

Print this article

Indian batsmen face test against Aus seamers

Led by the talented Virat Kohli, India's batsmen will look to continue the good work done against Sri Lanka when they take on Australia in Tuesday's second and final warm-up game ahead of the Champions Trophy.

-Schedule: ICC Champions Trophy

The match will be a dress rehearsal of sorts for the 'Men in Blue' as skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will more or less decide on his likely playing eleven based on the performance of the two warm-up games.

It will be a test for Kohli and Co against the Australian seamers who are relatively better than the Lankans. The left-arm seam troika of Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and James Faulkner could prove a handful if conditions favour swing bowling.

While Starc is coming back from an injury, Johnson and Faulkner were in fantastic form in the just-concluded IPL in which both were among the top-five wicket-takers.

'IPL Specialist' Rohit Sharma a worrying factor for Dhoni

Team India will surely take a lot of confidence from the fact that it successfully chased down a mammoth Lankan total of 333 with consummate ease. Kohli plundered 144 while comeback man Dinesh Karthik, by scoring a fine century, staked a strong claim for a place in the playing eleven.

What could be a worrying factor for Dhoni is the performance of 'IPL Specialist' Rohit Sharma. Despite enjoying a fine IPL, the Mumbai Indians batsman as usual flattered to deceive in India colours as he was out in pathetic fashion during the first warm-up game.

Non-performance for India is nothing new with Rohit but it will be interesting to see how long Dhoni carries the Mumbaikar purely on his talent.

Umesh Yadav expected to play against Australia

Suresh Raina, Dhoni and the two openers will expect that they get some more time before the real action starts on Thursday.

Dhoni will also be a touch worried with the performance of his bowlers in the first warm-up game. The Sri Lankan batsmen seemingly did not do anything special yet notched a score in excess of 325.

Agreed that the Edgbaston track suited stroke players in the absence of sufficient lateral movement, but the likes of Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Raganath Vinay Kumar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar hardly maintained any discipline in terms of line and length.

Dhoni didn't use his fastest bowler, Umesh Yadav, during the match but the Vidarbha lad is expected to play against Australia.

The spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra also couldn't make much of an impact as all players were allowed to play in the unofficial one-dayer.

As of now, it's an open secret that Ashwin will don the mantle of premier spinner while the skipper's Go-To Man 'Sir Jadeja' is expected to figure in the line-up.

Watson's return is a positive sign for the Aussies

For Australia, a good performance in the tournament will give them the much-needed boost ahead of their real battle -- the Ashes.

After the 0-4 drubbing at the hands of India a couple of months back, Michael Clarke will be hoping his team produces an improved performance in the 50-over version.

Shane Watson's return to form during the IPL is a positive sign for the Aussies. That he has started bowling adds the necessary balance to the line-up that has some talented youngsters like Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh to name a few.

Squads:
India (from): Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Irfan Pathan, Ranganath Vinay Kumar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav.
Australia (from): Michael Clarke (capt), George Bailey, David Warner, David Warner, Shane Watson, Phillip Hughes, Adam Voges, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Marsh, Mitchell Johnson, Xavier Doherty, Nathan Coultier-Nile, Clint McKay.