Stats say Aussies should win today

Trick 1: They obviously know how not to lose.

But see the Gwalior result in another way and you know just why this Australian side should never be

written off, even if they lose tomorrow. Sunday’s defeat made it an astonishing four defeats in seven matches for the tourists — but three of those losses came in a dead series against the West Indies, which Australia had already wrapped up by then.

Trick 2: They know when to lose.

That’s further evident from their record in the tournaments/series those 50 matches comprise: played 8, won six, lost 2. So they lose the pool matches and win the knockouts.

The two series Australia lost were in the experimental home winter series against Pakistan last June, and in the ICC Champions Trophy three months later. They showed two thigs. One, that the Aussies were susceptible to extreme pace, as Akram and Akhtar showed. Point is, no team today has that kind of firepower anymore.

Two, they can be caught out on a slow and low pitch by good tight spinners, as has happened more frequently, and as happened during the ICC meet in Sri Lanka.

Where Australia differ, though, from other teams is their reaction to defeat. When the Aussies failed to make the final of the home VB Tri-Series in 2001-02, for only the second time since 1996-7, they sacked Steve Waugh as one-day captain and appointed Ricky Ponting. In 1996-97, they’d done the same thing: Mark Taylor was replaced by Waugh as ODI skipper.

Ponting’s first series saw his team steamroll hosts South Africa 5-1.

For India, who’ll climb to No. 3 in the ICC rankings if they win tomorrow, the figures appear dismal. But, in this same 50-game period, it’s the second-best, along with South Africa (both have 30 wins). Which only shows, again, just how good the Aussies are.