Dhoni would be hoping for lady luck to smile on him after the Test series debacle. (AFP Photo)
NEW DELHI: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and chose to bowl against Australia in the first Twenty20 match at the ANZ stadium in Sydney on Wednesday.
The Indians slumped to their lowest ebb in the longer version of the last week when Australia mauled the visitors by a 4-0 margin in the Test series.
The drubbing at the hands of Australia was also the current ODI world champion team's eight straight overseas Test defeat following the series loss by identical margin in England last year.
Dhoni would be hoping for lady luck to smile on him in the first of the two T20 matches ahead of the tri-series, featuring hosts Australia and Sri Lanka.
The trio of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and skipper Dhoni knows that it is high time for them to perform or make away for youngsters like Manoj Tiwary and Parthiv Patel, who are waiting in the wings for their opportunity.
With the talented Rohit Sharma getting a match after spending the entire Test series on the sidelines, the Indian middle-order looks good with Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli and Dhoni with Ravindra Jadeja will play the role of an all-rounder.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will spearhead the spin department in Jadeja's company.
India lost three straight games each in the super league stage of the two consecutive T20 World Cups in England and in West Indies in 2009-10 and young batsmen were exposed big time against the short-pitched deliveries.
The Indians were all out on most occasions, despite having a galaxy of batting stars in their ranks.
But thankfully for the Indians, the present Australia T20 squad, under George Bailey, does not have menacing fast bowlers. There is neither Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus nor Ryan Harris in the team. The only one with some credentials is veteran Brett Lee, who has long retired from Test cricket.
But young James Faulkner is an unknown entity and is said to be a good left-arm fast bowling all-rounder of Tasmania.
Still, Daniel Christian is highly spoken of and Clint McKay has had a few impressive performances in the recent Big Bash League (BBL).
Australia's biggest advantage going into the match is that most of their players can fulfill dual roles.
The Indians slumped to their lowest ebb in the longer version of the last week when Australia mauled the visitors by a 4-0 margin in the Test series.
The drubbing at the hands of Australia was also the current ODI world champion team's eight straight overseas Test defeat following the series loss by identical margin in England last year.
Dhoni would be hoping for lady luck to smile on him in the first of the two T20 matches ahead of the tri-series, featuring hosts Australia and Sri Lanka.
The trio of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and skipper Dhoni knows that it is high time for them to perform or make away for youngsters like Manoj Tiwary and Parthiv Patel, who are waiting in the wings for their opportunity.
With the talented Rohit Sharma getting a match after spending the entire Test series on the sidelines, the Indian middle-order looks good with Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli and Dhoni with Ravindra Jadeja will play the role of an all-rounder.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will spearhead the spin department in Jadeja's company.
India lost three straight games each in the super league stage of the two consecutive T20 World Cups in England and in West Indies in 2009-10 and young batsmen were exposed big time against the short-pitched deliveries.
The Indians were all out on most occasions, despite having a galaxy of batting stars in their ranks.
But thankfully for the Indians, the present Australia T20 squad, under George Bailey, does not have menacing fast bowlers. There is neither Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus nor Ryan Harris in the team. The only one with some credentials is veteran Brett Lee, who has long retired from Test cricket.
But young James Faulkner is an unknown entity and is said to be a good left-arm fast bowling all-rounder of Tasmania.
Still, Daniel Christian is highly spoken of and Clint McKay has had a few impressive performances in the recent Big Bash League (BBL).
Australia's biggest advantage going into the match is that most of their players can fulfill dual roles.
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