Indians are aiming to pull out all stops against Australia in the best-of-seven ODI series and provide a winning start to an eventful season, home team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said in the series souvenir brought out by the Cricket Board.
"We will be going flat out to bring a smile on the faces of our compatriots, and in the process make a successful start to what is going to an eventful season, with series against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and South Africa lined up in the months to follow," Dhoni said in his 'Captain's Log'.
Saying that the visitors would be confident going into the series that started here today after their successful runs in the ODI series in England and in the Champions Trophy, Dhoni said there was no better feeling in cricket than "in beating a formidable opponent".
"We have got used to experiencing it of late and would not like to break the habit," he said. Complimenting his teammates for having "handled the pressures and challenges that accompany a place in the Indian cricket team" very well, Dhoni said it was a privilege to be the captain of the team that has "achieved so much in so short a span of time".
Pointing out India's recent fine record against the three-time World Cup winners, including the historic tri-series triumph Down Under in 2007-08, Dhoni also recalled the defeat against the visitors in the seven-match ODI rubber in 2007.
"Only blip was our loss to them in ODI series two years ago," Dhoni said about India's 2-4 loss in October, 2007. Dhoni said while the team has changed, the expectations of the fans from it have remained the same. He said the fans wanted "to see us click on home turf, after watching our wins in Sri Lanka, New Zealand and West Indies on the TV".
"This is similar to 2007-08, when the Indian masses expected us to dominate the ODI series, which got underway days after our triumph in the ICC World Twenty20," he said. In his message, BCCI president Shashank Manohar said that the intense rivalry between India and Australia has been accorded "premier" status in the modern era.
"The events of recent past suggest that the forthcoming ODI series will be one to look forward to," he said. Visiting captain Ricky Ponting, in his 'Captain's Log', recalled the huge enthusiasm of fans on their last ODI tour.
"On the last ODI tour of India in 2007, for example, over ten thousand Indian fans were gathered at the Kochin Airport as we all arrived for the second ODI. Bands were playing and the reception was deafening. It's an experience that I'm sure will be repeated across India during this tour," he said.
Recalling the pin-drop silence when his team clinched that series in Nagpur, Ponting said the 50-over game, about which there has been a debate in the wake of huge popularity of Twenty20, is still loved by the Indian and Australian fans.
"50-over cricket matters to the Indian population, just like it does to Australians, and I reckon we're in for a cracker of a series," he said.
