It’s hard to predict the nature of tomorrow’s encounter between Australia and India considering how the two sides have played in the tournament so far. Even though Australia are nine points ahead of India, Ricky Ponting’s team are facing the same hard questions as Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Co. Batting remains the main concern for the both these teams with majority of their famed batting line-ups struggling for consistency.The problems begin at the top with the openers unable to provide stability. Except for Adam Gilchrist, the others like Sachin Tendulkar, Matthew Hayden and Virender Sehwag have struggled for runs through the series. The problems get compounded when you take into the account the brittle nature of their middle orders, especially Australia’s with batsmen like Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds in a rut – Ponting has an average of 10.66 while Symonds has made 42 in six games at 8.40.India might gather confidence from the fact that most of their batsmen have got the starts. Batsmen like Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma and Irfan Pathan have shown the character to hang around and have come up with some constructive innings. They have tried at least if not convincingly. For Australia it’s been a matter of squeezing out a respectable target and then relying on their bowling to turn the match in their favour.And both teams have relied on individuals who have shown a strong temperament to hang in the middle and carry out the rescue job. And these guys have carried the burden of the collective failure of their mates without complaining. If Dhoni has proved he is an able leader, the Michaels – Clarke and Hussey – have delivered for Australia.”We are doing well in bits and pieces. If they can be consistent that will be good,” Dhoni said, as India came out for their final practice session at the SCG on Saturday. India have been experimenting with their batting order but Dhoni insists that is not the reason for the batsman’s problems. “We are pretty much sure about the pattern of the batting order. One of the good things is that most of our batsmen adapt well at any position, so that really helps.”In the previous game, against Sri Lanka in Adelaide, Dhoni remained undefeated on 50 as he led India to victory. Surprisingly, despite his explosive batting skills, the Indian captain didn’t even score one boundary or a six. He altered his game according to the conditions. “It’s difficult to adapt, but it’s important to get runs and play according to the demands of the game,” he said. “As long as you can maintain a strike-rate it doesn’t matter if you don’t hit fours.”

Despite reaching the finals, Australia are not sitting pretty and the main cause is their batting failure. James Hopes, the Australian allrounder, had a different take on the situation. “You can call it bad batting or exceptional bowling. The wickets are slow and it takes a bit to get in for a batsman.”The batsmen are not scoring a lot of runs given the conditions we are playing in where some of the pitches are low and slow,” Hopes said. Still Australia have lost only one game so far and Hopes feels one advantage is the toss which Ponting has called right on most occasions. “We are getting to bat first, so our bowlers know what they are bowling to.”Hopes insisted Australia won’t be taking tomorrow’s game lightly. “India have some of the form bowlers and class players like Sachin, Sehwag, and Yuvraj [Singh] have started to score runs. They will come hard knowing that if they beat us tomorrow they will be the form team going into the final,” he said. “We will be trying to get the psychological edge tomorrow regardless of whether it is a high scoring or low scoring game.”Meanwhile, India need to work out whether to continue the five-bowler theory the Indians utilised in their last two games or go with an extra batsman. “To play five bowlers the batsmen need to be on the top of their form”, Dhoni said. “With five bowlers you are getting the opposition out early but you are not getting the runs. But at the same time, if you play four bowlers your part-timers might give some runs.”With runs being the need of the hour, India might recall Sehwag at the expense of allrounder Praveen Kumar. As for Australia, with Brett Lee coming back after a two-game break, Mitchell Johnson is likely to sit out.Teams
Australia (likely) 1 Adam Gilchrist, 2 Matthew Hayden, 3 Ricky Ponting, 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 James Hopes, 8 Brad Hogg, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Stuart Clark, 11 Nathan Bracken.India (likely) 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni, 7 Robin Uthappa, 8 Irfan Pathan, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Munaf Patel.

Sanath Jayasuriya and Muttiah Muralitharan have been left out of Sri Lanka’s 15-man squad for the upcoming ODI series in the West Indies.The 37-year-old Jayasuriya retired from Tests last December, and wished to concentrate on his ODI career. However, he hasn’t had a great run since the World Cup, with only 305 runs in 20 innings, and there was speculation that he would be dropped from the side, especially after his poor performance in the CB Series, where Sri Lanka finished third behind India and Australia.Murali, the leading Test wicket-taker, also didn’t have a great time in Australia, but it is believed that he will be feature only in key ODI tournaments from now on. Murali will play in the two Tests preceding the ODI series in which he will be replaced by offspinner Ajantha Mendis, who with 54 wickets, is the leading wicket-taker in the Premier League Tournament, Sri Lanka’s domestic first-class competition. Mahela Udawatte, the 23-year-old hard-hitting opener, replaces Jayasuriya. Udawatte has been touted as a successor to Jayasuriya.”He [Jayasuriya] did not perform well in Australia,” Ashantha de Mel, Sri Lanka’s chief selector, told . “We have three years to groom a team for the 2011 World Cup and younger players must be given a chance.”Sri Lanka will also be without Lasith Malinga, out with a knee injury, for both the Tests and ODIs in West Indies. Allrounder Kaushalya Weeraratne makes a comeback to the Sri Lankan side. His last ODI was in 2003. Uncapped left-arm fast bowler Thilan Thushara, who was picked for the Tests, also finds a place in the ODI squad.Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Kulasekara and Ishara Amerasinghe are the other fast bowlers in the squad, while Malinga Bandara is the other spinner alongside Mendis. Besides Weeraratne, Chamara Kapugedera and Tillakaratne Dilshan are the other all-round options available to captain Mahela Jayawardene.Sri Lanka ODI squad: Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Chamara Silva, Upul Tharanga, Chamara Kapugedera, Malinga Bandara, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Nuwan Kulasekara, Ajantha Mendis, Jehan Mubarak, Ishara Amerasinghe, Mahela Udawatte, Thilan Thushara.

West Indies have retained the majority of their Test squad for the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, with the offspinner Amit Jaggernauth the only man cut for the shorter format. The allrounder Kieron Pollard, who played his only one-dayer during last year’s World Cup, has been recalled.The 16-man squad also features two wicketkeepers with Patrick Browne, who was utilised as a specialist batsman during the ODIs against South Africa earlier this year, included alongside Denesh Ramdin. The left-arm spinner Suliemann Benn, who played his first Test at Providence last month, is the only member of the squad yet to make his ODI debut.The legspinner Rawl Lewis, the opening batsman Brenton Parchment and the fast bowler Ravi Rampaul, all of whom featured in the 5-0 loss to South Africa, have not been picked for the upcoming series. Ramnaresh Sarwan was named as vice-captain to Chris Gayle for the three games, which begin in Trinidad on Thursday following a tightly-contested Test series that ended 1-1.Squad Chris Gayle (capt), Devon Smith, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Runako Morton, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Patrick Browne (wk), Darren Sammy, Sulieman Benn, Fidel Edwards, Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell.

As it cannot get much worse, things might be looking up for Bangladeshahead of the second ODI against Pakistan in Faisalabad. They were roundlytrounced in Lahore, their bowling was toothless after the first 20 overs andtheir batting never anything other than rash. Little surprise then thatJamie Siddons, Bangladesh’s stoic coach, called the 152-run loss “a littleembarrassing.”Embarrassing maybe, but not the end of the world, or the series as ithappens. “One slip-up doesn’t make the series,” Siddons reasoned. “Weaccept that Pakistan are a better side than us. They have to play badlyand we have to play really well for us to win.”It was agreed – by captain, coach and opposing captain – that Bangladeshwere at least one fast bowler short at Gaddafi Stadium. And with ShahadatHossein and Syed Rasel fit and in the squad, the decision was doublyperplexing, explained at the time as the necessary sacrifice ofspecialists to the multi-skilled.Yet whether or not they rectify that imbalance appears uncertain. ThoughMohammad Ashraful again said he felt a fast bowler short, Siddons wasn’t soemphatic about whether another would come in. “If we had a superstar fastbowler with us who we thought was better than what we had out there thensure. We didn’t bank on the pitch spinning so much later and seam earlyon. We missed one bowler but our fifth bowling options gave away 106 runsand that is too many.”One thing Ashraful won’t want a repeat of is the power fiasco that saw thefloodlights go out three times – for nearly an hour in total – which he said affected his batsmen’s concentration adversely. The first time was a complete blackout and subsequently one tower failed. The power crisis has affected the entire country, though local authorities were confident the back-up was in place at the Iqbal Stadium to avoid a similar situation.”The lights going out changed our batting game-plans,” Siddons said. Wewere chasing 6.5 an over before it and suddenly after we were chasing 9.5or something.”But natural stroke-players that they are, Bangladesh won’t mind so much theshort boundaries and an absolutely bone-dry, rock-hard surface. “Ourbatting failed in Lahore,” Ashraful said. “The power blackouts didn’t helpbut we played rash shots as well. We have team rules which we didn’t stickto then. If we do, then we should do well.”Pakistan is a very good team but we didn’t play well the other night. Wehope to do better tomorrow.” As does everyone in Faisalabad.