Time and again Cricket proves to be a glorious game of uncertainty. Indians were demolished 4-0 by Australia in the recently concluded Test Series. Obviously the World Champions morale must be very low when they walked into the CB Series. On the other hand, Sri Lanka had their share of turbulence to deal as they commenced this event. Their new Captain after World Cup 2011 notwithstanding the pressure/politics resigned his job just before the start of the series. In such a state of affairs, Australia started overwhelming favorites to win the Tri Series.
Come on, 10 days ago who would have anticipated the sub continent teams to trash Australia back to back? Definitely not me!!! But I can certainly smell another Aussie defeat on cards, as they take on India next.
Australia
If Aussies don’t take the tournament seriously anymore, it is India – Sri Lanka Finals. The Aussie batting lack the punch and their bowling is super weak. New caps like Wade, Warner, Forrest, out of form Ponting, Injured/Absent Clarke are all not delivering with the bat. On the other hand, All-rounders like Christian/David Hussey find the boots of Shane Watson too big to fill. Similarly the bowling unit of McKay, Starc, Doherty are thrust to deal big fishes like Tendulkars, Sehwags, Sangakaras, Jayawardenas, Dhonis. Mind you, some of these biggies are yet to fire. Going forward Australia should stop rotating their players and bring back Siddle, Pattionson, Cummins, Hilfenhaus, Watson, Johnson, Haddin (all subjected to availability) soon as possible to redeem their chance of qualifying the finals.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has made their mark in this tournament at a rapid pace. Once again, thanks to the astute captaincy of Jayawardene. He spent no time wasting on the opener Upul Tharanga, but dropped him only to promote himself as the opener for the game against Australia. He also replaced the rookie off spinner with Mahroof. With his tactical field placement, Aussie had no choice but to go down to a paltry total of 150. I can certainly say no team can score 250 runs against Sri Lanka in this tournament. The only way for teams to defend their 225ish target is by getting the Lankan batsman cheaply or otherwise control Sri Lanka inside 200 runs.
India
The rotation policy adopted by Dhoni that worked out so far is still a jittery. The idea is understandable. The experience of Sehwag, Tendulkar and Gambir don’t need too many matches to settle while Raina, Sharma, Vinay Kumar and Jadeja need a long run in the XI to stabilize. Patel and Tiwary are the only two pending for dues in terms of playing a match. For now, India is all set to score 4 points on Sunday. If ALLZZZWELL, India will clinch the CB SERIES beating Sri Lanka 2-1.
Bottom line: This is what an Aussie Fan must be thinking about the subcontinent teams “Slum-dog Millionaires”. Why Not? Lots of Laugh
Dinesh
Cricket Lover
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