Clueless Indians eye elusive victory
Dhoni’s men take on confident Australians in second T20
When will India score their first victory on this tour Down Under? Who is going to inspire a mentally drained side against a relentless Australia?
The first Twenty20 that was expected to provide some answers to India’s woes only succeeded in generating those questions, leaving the visitors in a confounded state ahead of the second T20 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.
Ineffectiveness that has wormed deep into the Indian game was visible during the first T20 at the ANZ stadium in Sydney on Wednesday. The dismissal of David Warner and Travis Birt had given the Indian bowlers a fantastic chance to pick up some more wickets, and strangle the Australian middle-order.
But all they could manage was to succumb to the brute force of Matthew Wade and David Hussey, often feeding the Australians with freebies that they put away easily. Lack of discipline was quite obvious, and against the in-form Australians — many of whom have just finished playing in the Big Bash T20 League — it was a recipe for disaster. Even after the Australians put a formidable 171 on the board, the Indians had a chance. A line-up consisting the likes of Virat Kohli, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja was expected to offer stiffer resistance, but they caved in like proverbial pack of cards against a set of aggressive and spot on bowlers.
It was a pitiful sight to see the lions of Indian Premier League struggling to stitch together a meaningful chase, and they even struggled against the quickish off-spin of David Hussey before finally settling for a 30-run defeat.
Now, the Indians will have to find a way to tackle George Bailey’s men, who showed their growing T20 prowess at Sydney, on the morrow. But that’s easier said than done because the pitch at the MCG, a drop-in surface like in Sydney, is expected to give good assistance to pacers, and the hosts might draft in Clint McKay for this match in place of Xavier Doherty.
“Clint is an excellent pacer in T20s, and he has been in excellent form in the Big Bash. With the pitch in Melbourne having something in it for the quicks, Clint is definitely an option for us,” said Hussey.
Indians might not opt for too many changes despite their defeat in the first game, but it’s possible that Irfan Pathan might get a look in, most likely in place of Ravindra Jadeja.
