India vs Australia 2013: 1st ODI Preview - Young teams to renew rivalry

In the absence of Michael Clarke, Shane Watson’s familiarity with Indian conditions would be a great opportunity for the youngsters to learn. (Getty Images)

George Bailey, the man leading Australia on this limited overs series in the absence of Michael Clarke, is very clear about the team’s history in the subcontinent and what he can take from it.

“I don’t think there’s any advantage. It’s a nice statistic though, but there’s no advantage to be gained from this. I don’t worry about it too much. I am not really thinking about maintaining the streak,” he said prior to today’s opening fixture in Pune.

Unsurprisingly, it comes as a very different view from the Australian skippers of yesteryears to have toured India, as this is probably the most inexperienced side that has reached the Indian shores for ODIs in many years.

Australia’s last ODI in India was the 2011 World Cup quarterfinal, and there are only three players from that squad – Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin – presently feature in this squad, and despite a few of the youngsters having IPL experience under their belt, the trio, especially Watson, have a lot to do off the field.

More than capable to hold its own against the bowling attack of Johnson, Clint McKay (his track record in India in the limited three opportunities he has had here is impressive), Nathan Coulter-Nile and Moises Henriques, as far India are concerned, they would be more focussed on the explosive batting options that the Australians have.

Nic Maddinson was impressive in his short burst at the top of the order in the T20 at Rajkot, but he’s not in Australia’s ODI plans and would be replaced by either Callum Ferguson or Phillip Hughes, most likely the former who’s been in a good nick in domestic cricket and has runs under his belt coming into the series.

Aaron Finch is blowing hot and cold these days. His 156 against England promised a lot before the ODI series, but apart from making merry against Scotland, he didn’t come up good in the rest of the series. Here, he has again made a good start to the series in the one off T20, but only success in ODIs will prove his true mettle here.

India were quite alarmingly generous in leaking runs in Rajkot and will face a similar, if not a harder battle in Pune, where the pitch is expected to offer a run-fest.

That oft underrated Vinay Kumar hasn’t done too badly for India during death overs and was impressive in Rajkot, taking the pace off the ball regularly, and to good effect. He injured his left hand while taking Finch’s hard hit return catch, and however unlikely the scenario may be, should he be unable to take field today, either of Jaydev Unadkat and Mohammad Shami can be expected to take his place.

This Indian batting line-up is probably taking that final shape it needs a year before the World Cup. Yuvraj has been charged up and inspirational in his second comeback in a year, and only Rohit Sharma’s ongoing transformation into an opener is a cause of concern for the management.

Rohit is in magnificent touch lately, having stroked some of the most beautiful innings in the just concluded CLT20, but India’s most successful T20 batsman after Suresh Raina hasn’t yet shown that invincible touch in Indian colours.

He was good for India in England where his job was to save the wicket and score at a reasonable pace, but if he’s not able to lay into bowlers at the top of the order in the subcontinent, his promising stint at the top order will hit a dead end.

It’s common knowledge that Dhoni hasn’t been happy with the new ODI rules which permit a maximum of four fielders outside the circle during non-powerplay overs, obviously a blow to his tactics of using his spinners to cut the flow of runs and build pressure on the batsmen. Ashwin and Jadeja, and possibly Yuvraj will have to be handled a bit better by the keeper-captain in the series to adapt to the changes.

This abundantly talented side is also probably the best fielding unit in the world right now, and that remains India’s biggest strength after its batting.

Australia need to win 6 matches out of 7 to dislodge India off their perch in the ODI rankings, and even the most optimistic Aussie fans would agree that it’s an extremely unlikely dream which would need some of the best cricket to be played from these youngsters and some serious hara-kiri from the Indians.

Probable line-ups

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Vinay Kumar/Mohammad Shami/Jaydev Unadkat, Ishant Sharma

Australia: Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Callum Ferguson, Brad Haddin, Moises Henriques, James Faulkner/Nathan Courter-Nile, Mitchell Johnson, Clint McKay, Xavier Doherty.