World Champs take on unpredictable Indian side

A good many of the scribes at Nairobi used the word "cantered" to describe India's first round overhauling of Kenya. When they take on Australia tomorrow, the Indians will be stretched to the limit. If anyone is cantering, it will be the Australians. However, Aussie skipper Steve Waugh is not one to take any game lightly. He is quoted as having said, "We never go into any India game thinking it's going to be easy..."

Usually India are a very strong batting side - on paper. This time around, even that is something that cannot be taken for granted. Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid have kept themselves busy playing county cricket in England and both looked in good nick in India's lung opener against Kenya. The backbone of India's batting, Sachin Tendulkar, however, did not look anywhere near his best. An exaggerated shuffle across the stumps worried cricket pundits and television commentators alike. Having said that, Tendulkar is still the one man who can take India past Australia. The top three look solid enough, but what follows leaves a bit to be desired.

Vinod Kambli is making his umpteenth comeback and will not be able to take on the Australians in the most conducive frame of mind. One remembers an innings he played against the Australians in Sharjah, where he waded into Shane Warne and tonked him for over 20 runs in an over late in the innings. Kambli's weakness has always been against the ball dug in short. Glenn McGrath is a master of hitting that spot just short of a length. He and the other pacemen will be licking their lips at the prospect of bowling to Kambli, Yuvraj Singh and company.

Although Yuvraj Singh is a talented youngster and a clean striker of the ball, the Australians are masters at exploiting any chinks in a batsman's armour. As a raw, young cricketer, Yuvraj Singh is sure to be nervous. After him Robin Singh, Vijay Dahiya and the tail follow. Robin Singh is a useful man to have coming in after 35 overs are bowled so he can have a bit of a dash at the end. However, no captain would like to see him at the crease very early in the innings.

Rumours abound that Tamil Nadu southpaw Sridharan Sriram will be included ahead of Sunil Joshi. This gives India the option of having him open with Sachin Tendulkar while Ganguly slips lower down the order. This is a rather dangerous risk to take, but the coach Anshuman Gaekwad did not rule out any possibilities.

The Australians on the other hand have no dilemmas whatsoever. Niggling injuries to some key players might force them to make changes. However, no players have been ruled out thus far.

Although the odds must be stacked firmly in Australia's favour, the nature of the competition gives room for some hope to the Indians. The fact that losing one match means elimination might just play on the minds of the Aussies. Even granting that this happens and the Australians do not play upto their potential, someone from the Indian team will have to capitalise on this.