India vs. Australia Super Eight T20 match is
among the most crucial match of this tournament. After the comprehensive
victory against England and Harbhajan Singh`s brilliant comeback has raised
questions as to what exactly will be a winning combination against George
Bailey`s men who have looked good in both their group league matches against
Ireland and West Indies respectively. Australia would love to prove to the
world that it has not lost its winning touch and that despite being placed at
the bottom in Twenty20 world cricket, they have the same flair and touch of
invincibility as before.
India, on the other hand will try to come with
similar performance they came against England. India won the most convincing
match in this tournament against any super-8 team. Indian batting was
impeccable and bowling was superb. Even the fielding against England was
exceptional and that contributed to a great extent in winning the one-sided
tournament.
India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni
indicated Thursday that he would be going in with five bowlers against
Australia in Friday’s crucial Super Eights match of the World Twenty20
tournament, a move which will mean that India will have one batsman short. India
are likely to go in with five specialist bowlers to plug their bowling
loopholes when they take on the mighty Australians in its opening `Super Eight`
fixture of the ICC World Twenty20 on Friday.
In that case, either opener Virender Sehwag or
Yuvraj Singh may have to sit out of the match and Dhoni admitted that it would
be a "tough decision". It will be interesting to see what bowling
combination Dhoni would prefer for the first `super eight` game and whether he
would opt for three spinners or three pacers. On current form, Lakshmipathy
Balaji is a better bowler at the death overs than the 33-year-old Zaheer Khan
mainly because of the variety of slower deliveries he bowls.
The two key batsmen in the Australian set-up are
left-handers David Warner and Mike Hussey. The presence of the duo at the top
of the order certainly means that Harbhajan`s inclusion is necessary because of
his stupendous record against the left-handers. Ravichandran Ashwin, who was
rested against England, will also make a comeback into the playing eleven and
Irfan Pathan, who has been providing the team with breakthroughs regularly is
certain to play in eleven. The batting, however, bears a much more settled look
with the good news being that Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma are back among
runs. The only thing to worry will be Yuvraj Singh`s place in batting order.
The talented left-hander has been struggling with the bat.
The main threat for India will be all-rounder Shane
Watson who is in prime form having won back-to-back MoM awards. Watson has been
cleverly used by skipper Bailey as he has proved to be a potent partnership
breaker. The Indian batsmen will need to be careful against Watson. Left-arm
seamer Mitchell Starc can prove to be a handful but it will be chinaman bowler
Brad Hogg who will need to play a big role. The only problem for Australia will
be its middle-order which hasn`t been tested in the two matches which were
single-handedly won by Watson. The all-rounder has taken full advantage of the
Powerplay overs to slaughter the bowlers. With Warner and Hussey for company,
the `terrific trio` make up for a superb top-order.
Key players
Australia: Shane Watson, Michael
Hussey, David Warner, Brad Hogg, Pat Cummins
India: Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj, Harbhajan
Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin.
