Final fling faces rain threat

It seems that even the weather gods have reason to believe that the seventh and final ODI between India and Australia is inconsequential. It rained continuously in Nerul where the DY Patil Stadium is located. The 4-2 scoreline in favour of Australia means the result of the game will not affect the outcome of the seven-match series.    

In all, a capacity crowd of 51,000 will throng the DY Patil Stadium. However, if the skies open up and leave the outfield soggy or the wicket wet then there is little possibility of cricket being played on Wednesday.

India can gain some much-needed confidence by beating the Australians in this final encounter. After losing three games in a row — Mohali, Hyderabad and Guwahati — a win here will be a good way to end the series and go into the Test matches against Sri Lanka on a high.

Those who haven’t been hitting the right notes in the middle have an opportunity to find their ‘zone’ again.  Virender Sehwag has been giving India some good starts but his cameos haven’t been good enough to tilt the game in favour of India. His scores in this series read 13, 40, 11, 30, 38 and 6. This numbers have highlighted his inability to convert starts into big scores.

Gautam Gambhir, batting at No.3, has contributed little in his last three innings after making half-centuries in Vadodara and Nagpur. Gambhir will be a vital cog when India strive to defend their clean slate in Tests at home against the Sri Lankans. 

Yuvraj Singh made just 21 runs in his last three innings. In Delhi, it was the 148-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Yuvraj and MS Dhoni that took the team home. However, a good innings from the southpaw will only boost his morale ahead of the Test series against the Sri Lankans. Playing against the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan, however, will remain a challenge.

On the bowling front, Ishant Sharma hasn’t lived up to the expectations so far. In the absence of strike bowler Zaheer Khan, the added responsibility seems to be too much to handle for the young paceman.

Harbhajan Singh used the long handle in the series as the tail wagged in a couple of games. However, he didn’t perform like  a match-winner with the ball.  There was good news for the Indian camp emanating from the Australian side. Cricket Australia has asked Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson to fly home as they have constantly been on the road since the ICC World Twenty20.

CA’s selection committee chief Andrew Hilditch said: “In view of the extremely heavy workload shouldered by Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watson since the ICC World Twenty20 in May 2009 and with the imminent start of the Australian summer which includes six Test matches in eight weeks, ODIs and Twenty20 series against the West Indies and Pakistan and a tour to New Zealand early next year, the National Selection Panel has decided Mitchell and Shane will depart India as soon as possible.”