An Indian victory on Sunday will render the last one-sixth of the league phase of the tri-series redundant. From the point of view of a blundering competition, an Australian win at the SCG will be the best outcome, but try telling Mahendra Singh Dhoni that!

Having many times in the past relied on last-minute heroics to seal their place in the title round, India will get two opportunities in the next three days to take their destiny into their own hands, and usher Sri Lanka out of the competition. The SCG, a cauldron that sparked such unpleasantness and acrimony when India and Australia last met here in the second Test seven weeks ago, will therefore provide the perfect setting for India’s first giant step towards the finals.

Without being at their best, Australia have still managed to tower head and shoulders above the rest. Truth to tell, none of the three sides has flexed its batting muscles yet, while the bowlers have relished parading their wares on tracks that haven’t offered them the greatest assistance while at the same time strangulating stroke-making designs through their placid sluggishness.

It is believed that the SCG is unlikely to break from recent tradition and throw up a belter; after all, just a fortnight back, Australia were fortunate enough to reach 253 — to date their highest total of the competition — before choking the Sri Lankans under lights for 125. That, allied with the propensity of the SCG track to assist spin, even if only marginally in a limited-overs international should, logically, pave the way for Virender Sehwag’s return to the playing eleven.

Fascination

Whether Dhoni will actually deviate from his new-found fascination for five specialist bowlers to accommodate Sehwag is open to debate. The fact is, that with India still searching for batting consistency and the best chance of acceleration being at the top of the order against the new hard ball, there is no reason Sehwag should not be in the side. An excellent, if not extraordinary, international career has been based around playing his strokes, though the 29-year-old will be the first to admit that his one-day record doesn't do justice to his immense talent. The situation now cries out loud for a stroke-maker at the top — with due respect to Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir — of the Sehwag kind. And we are talking about a batsman who has a Test triple ton to his name, not a hit-or-miss slogger!

The SCG is among the few venues in Australia where India can afford to go in a bowler less, relying on the spin combination of Tendulkar, a rejuvenated Yuvraj Singh and Sehwag himself to make up the fifth bowler’s complement. India’s experiments with five bowlers in Adelaide met with mixed results. Despite restricting Australia to 203 last Sunday, they themselves managed no more than a paltry 153. Two days later, Sri Lanka battled away to 238, and had it not been for Yuvraj’s timely rediscovery of his batting form and the impressive skipper’s phlegmatic, unshakeable resolve, India would have courted further embarrassment.

Ordinary batting

Given the circumstances, a throwback to the days when India went in with seven specialist batsman will not be a bad option. Australia have got away despite their own ordinary batting performances because their bowlers haven’t been pressurised enough. Sehwag’s manner of playing always leaves the door open for early damage, but if he does survive for any length of time — and particularly if India bat first — Australia will have their hands even fuller.

As it is, the poor string of scores from his own top-order must occupy a huge part of Ricky Ponting’s mind. The skipper himself has managed just 64 from six innings, Andrew Symonds 22 fewer from the same number of knocks and Matthew Hayden has contributed only 107 from five outings. Neither man has threatened the half-century mark. But for Michael Clarke’s maturity, Mike Hussey’s innate intelligence and Adam Gilchrist’s sporadic bursts, Australia will certainly not be occupying the head of the table. In itself, that is also tribute to a champion side; despite being woefully below par, Australia are still a strong enough force.

Their bowling, however, has been exceptional, not unlike India’s. Brett Lee, refreshed after a ten-day break, will be itching to have a go at his home patch even as Mitchell Johnson gets a well-earned rest; perennial paragons of accuracy Stuart Clark and Nathan Bracken will link up with Lee in a New South Wales-dominated pace attack that will sorely test India’s batting might. Again.

Umpires: Tony Hill (New Zealand) and Daryl Harper. Third umpire: Bruce Oxenford. Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand).