Heat is on

Wondering why Ricky Ponting is having a good time? It has a lot to do with the 3-1 scoreline in favour of the Aussies. Needless to say, Dhoni’s men have all the pressure in the world on them at Nagpur today

NAGPUR: It felt like May, not October. The weather was scorching. The mercury soared to almost 35 degrees during mid-day. Not that anyone in the city is complaining. Sunday’s match is a sell-out.

Saturday’s sweltering conditions in the Orange City would have given Rajendra Kumar Pachauri and his Nobel-winning panel on climate changes a fitting case for research.

India is going into the sixth one-dayer 1-3 down and it would be apt to say that the heat is on MS Dhoni’s men. A win on Sunday will give the Aussies an insurmountable 4-1 lead in the seven-match series.

Ricky Ponting is in no mood to give even a slender chance to the home team. Knowing that his champion side is in the pole position, the Australian skipper declared that they would go for the kill on Sunday.

“We would like to clinch the series tomorrow. We’ll treat it as a final,” said Ponting after his team’s workout at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium on Saturday.

The Indians are aware of the gravity of the situation. They are treating Baroda as a one-off day and looking ahead.

“We know the situation. We had one bad day in Baroda but the team is thinking positive. We’re confident of turning things around tomorrow,” Zaheer Khan, India’s bowling spearhead, said.

The home team has identified the problem area and hopes to fix it on Sunday.

“We’ve to get early breakthroughs. That has been the biggest problem. We’ve identified the problem and hopefully we’ll find a solution too,” said Zaheer, who himself has been guilty of being wayward with the new ball.

Australian openers have been consistent, with Matthew Hayden emerging as a prime candidate for the man of the series award.

But good news for the home team is that Hayden is a doubtful starter for the game. According to Australian team sources, the opener will face a fitness test on Sunday.

“The way he has been batting, we would not like to lose him,” Ponting said. Hayden’s scores have been 34, 75, 60, 92 and 29 and his absence could give India’s chances a big boost.

From the Indian side, RP Singh is on the injury list. The left arm pacer was injured by a Brett Lee yorker in Baroda and is likely to take make way for the hot-n-happening S Sreesanth.

The return of Sreesanth would also provide some variety to the Indian attack, which has been somewhat monotonous with three left-arm pacers and a left-arm spinner operating.

But more importantly, Sreesanth’s presence and his agro in the field should provide that X-factor to Dhoni & Co to unsettle the Aussies who have found the volatile Kerala pacer too hot to handle.