Another day,another man down

If the Australian team were allowed to pick a pitch to play a match in India,they surely wouldve chosen the surface at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium here.

If the Australian team were allowed to pick a pitch to play a match in India,they surely wouldve chosen the surface at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium here. With its uncharacteristic pace and bounce,the pitch may provide the visitors a homely feel during the fifth one-day international on Thursday. During the Champions League T20,in fact,former Australian opener Justin Langer went on to compare it with the track at the WACA ground in Perth.

However,this homecoming might just not be a happy one for Ricky Ponting & Co,as after Brett Lee,Tim Paine and James Hopes,now fast bowler Peter Siddle has also joined the growing injury-list. The burly Victorian paceman,who has led the pace-attack in Lees absence,has been ruled out of the series due to a side strain and is heading home Down Under.

Seamer-friendly

While the fast-bowling department has been a major worry for Ponting,the Indian pace trio of Praveen Kumar,Ashish Nehra and Ishant Sharma have been impressive and will look to exploit the conditions in Hyderabad. Chief curator YL Chandrasekar said that he was wondering if preparing a lively pitch for a match against the Aussies was the right thing,but the Indian bowlers performance has come as a huge relief for him.

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The normal thing to do is to prepare a wicket which will suit the home team. And I was in a fix about providing the Australians with bouncy and pacy conditions. But the Indian fast bowlers have been superior to them in this series,which makes my job a little easier, said Chandrasekar,who has been in-charge here for the last two years.

Siddles injury,meanwhile,leaves Ponting falling back to the already-out-of-sorts Mitchell Johnson to lead the attack. Though Johnson has been among the wickets,the Indian batsmen have had little trouble scoring against him (the left-armer has an economy rate of 6.54 in the series). It hasnt helped that Johnson has been forced to carry on with this series despite a continued ankle strain.

Siddles departure will also put added pressure on Moises Henriques and Doug Bollinger,though it also gives them a chance to enhance their reputations in international cricket.

Bollinger,who impressed in Mohali with a spell of three for 38,and Henriques,in addition to Nathan Hauritz,will have fond memories of playing at Uppal, where they were part of the New South Wales Blues squad that lifted the Champions League trophy last month. Chandrasekar,however,said that the pitch might be a bit slower than what it was two weeks back,when the T20 events final was played.

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Well be playing on the same wicket that hosted the Champions League final,but it wont have the same pace. The spinners might not get much help from it either,but dew will certainly not be a factor, says the curator.

Waiting for milestone

Meanwhile,all eyes will be on Sachin Tendulkar,who is just seven runs away from becoming the first batsman to score 17,000 runs in ODI cricket,and Chandrasekar said he would have his fingers crossed during the match on Thursday.

I was quite upset when he was given lbw in the last match. But it will be great for Hyderabad if he manages to do it here, he said.