Australia’s cricketers admit they remain mentally drained after an epic win in Hyderabad but will be motivated on Sunday by the chance to wrap-up a limited-overs series win over India at Guwahati.
Vice-captain Mike Hussey said the tourists were still recovering from the pyrotechnics of game five, in which their total of 4-350 was just enough to survive a Sachin Tendulkar special.
“I guess it will be a tight match again but our motivation now is that we can have the series in our hands,” Hussey told reporters at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
“We are still recovering from the the thrilling win (in Hyderabad) and hope to take the series here.”
Indian skipper MS Dhoni said there had been plenty of regret among his players after they were unable to adequately support Tendulkar’s 175.
“It was hurting and disappointing. But we have left everything in the dressing room. We have two more games to go and that’s what counts now. Whatever has happened has happened,” he said.
“You cannot change much about it. It’s important to concentrate on what lies ahead and stay fresh mentally.”
The Australians will seriously consider including Victorian Andrew McDonald on a surface that has favoured medium pace bowlers – the best figures in a match here were the 5-22 taken by former Indian allrounder and more recently fielding coach Robin Singh, against Sri Lanka in 1997.
Squads:
INDIA: MS Dhoni (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Sudeep Tyagi, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra.
AUSTRALIA: Ricky Ponting (capt), Shaun Marsh, Shane Watson, Michael Hussey, Adam Voges, Cameron White, Andrew McDonald, Graham Manou, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Clint McKay, Jon Holland, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger, Burt Cockley.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.
Arjun Tendulkar fell victim to the humidity as he cramped up, but he wished he had taken himself off as he delivered two gifts…
New Zealand took 28 years to win a Test match, finally triumphing in 1956. There were plenty of skilled individuals before that but not a complete team.
In just under three weeks, the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup will commence in Texas as the United States face off against Canada in…
After Rajasthan opener Yashasvi Jaiswal hit a boundary off the first ball, the Punjab player got revenge a few balls later - and ultimately…
"No cricketer that has ever lived hit the ball so often, so fast and with such a bewildering variety of strokes.” - HS Altham…
Featuring Aussie cricket star Usman Khawaja and taking inspiration from multiple horror films, Amazon Prime's promo for the 2024 T20 World Cup has certainly…
