Injury time for Ponting 038; Co

Following the Indians from the city with the zero-mile marker towards the sprawling stadium on its outskirts,the milestone announcing...

Following the Indians from the city with the zero-mile marker towards the sprawling stadium on its outskirts,the milestone announcing Kanyakumari 1507 kms to the south is symbolic of the direction Team India have taken in recent weeks on the ODI circuit.

But there were announcements made under the noon sun on Tuesday that suggested a possible upswing was just round the corner for Mahendra Singh Dhonis once-top-ranked unit. In a twist of fate,the mood in the two camps was contrary to the 1-0 series scoreline Australia,with wrinkles on their foreheads,didnt seem like a team who had pulled off a thrilling win in Baroda last week,and India didnt look like they were struggling to get going. The hosts got a shot in the arm with all-rounder Yuvraj Singh declared fit to play in Wednesdays second ODI,while the Australian pace battery seemed to disintegrate with paceman Brett Lee and all-rounder James Hopes ruled out,and left-arm seamer Mitchell Johnson iffy.

If Mitchell and Brett cant play,well be losing about 300 matches between them in terms of experience. James Hopes has played 60 or 70 games as well,so that makes it more than 350, said Australian coach Tim Nielsen,who is obviously a worried man. It was a bit of a scatter-bomb yesterday I dont remember a team losing three bowlers in one day.

To carry the reasoning forward,the Australian misfortune multiplied with Yuvraj giving India an additional 239 matches. Incidentally,Indias recent drop in form had coincided with Yuvrajs absence after a pre-Champions Trophy net session sent him on a rehabilitation list already including Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag. But with his comeback closely following Sehwags return,the Indian batting line-up will be at full strength again after nearly six months.

For Australia,Doug Bollinger and Ben Hilfenhaus are likely to fill in for Lee and Johnson. While Bollinger has played just three ODIs,Hilfenhaus one of the best bowlers during the Ashes series isnt known for his exploits in the shorter version. The final stages of the first one-dayer showed Australias bowling inexperience can be exploited,and their net session on Tuesday gave enough indication that the visitors were desperately seeking a remedy. Lee and Ponting took turns talking to Bollinger,who bowled his heart out. But,as coach Nielsen said,You can practise all the yorkers in the nets,but its difficult to bowl to someone like Sachin or even Harbhajan when they are on a roll and the crowd is behind them.

The spate of injuries has made a dent in the Australian batting too. With Johnson,Lee and Hopess run-making capabilities never under doubt,their absence will result in a re-jigging of the line-up. Shaun Marsh is likely to be called in perhaps to open the innings because of his IPL success,despite a decent run by Tim Paine and Shane Watson.

Given Australias predicament,Dhoni will be hoping that when a fully fit team fly north to Delhi for the third ODI,their journey will be symbolic of the direction in which Indian cricket is headed.

No Naxal threat,say police

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Nagpur: Local police officials have clarified that there is no Naxal threat to India-Australia match and that positioning anti-Naxal commandos for the match security is routine. There are high-profile people attending the match. So,we have to take precaution. There is no Naxal threat to the match, inspector general of police,Surendra Kumar,told The Indian Express. We know what happened in Lahore. So,we have to take care that nothing of the kind happens here, he added. Kumar also refuted reports that the anti-Naxal commandos were brought in especially from Gadchiroli. We have them in Nagpur as well, he said. ENS