Die another day!

It was another sad display of batting performance by the Indians at the Brisbane's Gabba stadium today. The rain gods have been lavish in our support and play has long been stopped because of rains. With India struggling at 128 for 6 it seems that a double century for the Indian team today might be a distant possibility. Bret Lee broke our back by taking the prized scalps of Sehwag and Sachin in that order. Sachin was unfortunate again. Blame it on rains or on the rubber spikes or sheer ingnorance or whatever, he got out hit-wicket of Lee's delivery. Strange dismissal it was! Gambhir and Rohit Sharma showed a nice tepmerament and it was a good tale of two cities- Delhi and Mumbai- working in tandem for the country. The partnership broke with Gambhir departing on a gritty 39 runs on board and Sharma on an equally gritty 29 runs. This match might not turn India's way but signs of progress are visible in the Indian guns.

However, this is the take of cricinfo.com on today's match so far:

India's selectors picked an athletic but inexperienced side for the tri-series, and the merits and demerits of that decision were on display in the opening game in Brisbane as the visitors were in danger of getting bowled out inside 50 overs. The running between the wickets was the sharpest it's been for a while but the raw middle-order crumbled against an all-pace attack led by Brett Lee, who once again emphasised that he was at the peak of his powers. His hostile spell was instrumental in India slipping to 6 for 128 before rain interrupted play after the 36th over.

There was heavy overnight rain in Brisbane and then some more this morning but the excellent drainage facilities at the Gabba ensured that play started on time. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, like the captains in 16 out of the last 18 matches in Brisbane, chose to bat despite the overcast conditions and the greenish pitch.

The pitch offered bounce to Lee while Nathan Bracken swung the ball into the right-handers. It was one such inswinger from Bracken which cramped Virender Sehwag for room, forcing him to play on, and gave Australia their first breakthrough in the fourth over. Sehwag innings was brief but he and Sachin Tendulkar had signalled India's intent by dropping the ball with soft hands and running sharp singles.

Lee won the battle against Tendulkar yet again, although, this time he was lucky. Tendulkar nudged off the back foot towards square leg but moved too deep into the crease and hit his stumps with the heel of his boot. It was the first time that he had been dismissed hit-wicket in his 408-match career.

At 2 for 26, with the experienced openers gone, Australia had exposed India's middle order, which was weakened by Yuvraj Singh's absence. Gambhir and Sharma, however, eased the pressure by stealing singles at every opportunity.

Johnson, who vented his frustration after the dropped catches, trapped Gambhir leg before for 39 with one that slanted into the left-hander before Lee's double-strike ripped through the middle order. Sharma edged a wide ball from Lee to Gilchrist and Tiwary, who was set up by a series of bouncers, had no answer to a yorker that burst through his defences.

The flurry of wickets allowed Ponting to give Noffke a second spell and the move gave him his maiden ODI wicket. Noffke surprised Robin Uthappa with a short ball and the edge was comfortably taken by Michael Clarke at point. India had slipped from 2 for 92 to 6 for 102. The collapse forced Dhoni and Irfan Pathan to consolidate watchfully and they had added 26 runs off ten overs before rain halted play.

Indian young guns ready to be fired on all cyliners!!!

Tomorrow will come like a breath of fresh air with the first ODI match of the triangular series to be played on Sunday. Life me ek Sunday miss nahin hoga.
Let us see how the youngsters fare tomorrow. Aussies captain Ponting has started playing the mind game by saying that Ganguly's exclusion will prove to be a big mistake in the upcoming series to which Yuvi has reacted by saying that the present team is just right to take on any challenges. It is doubtful how highly Ponting rates Dada but it is all about exposing the chinks in the armour of the opponent. The infighting in Indian cricket leagues has lead to a psychological break-down, which is not visible from the looks of it.
However, the young Indian batsmen, many of whom have joined the team only for the T20 and tri-series, will be keen to make amends for the ordinary batting display in Melbourne where the team was shot out for a paltry 74 in 17.3 overs. Lack of practice might be one of the reasons behind the poor show, something which Dhoni had previously alluded to. In India, both the aftereffects-the euphoria after a win or the repurcussions after a loss- are intense in the extremes.
The Indian team can hope that Gilly's swansong will not be the one that befits him.

Something about the wicket!

The wicket, despite having slowed down a bit over the years, is still one of the livelier tracks of Australia and the humidity because of inclement weather is only going to add sting in the tails of the home pacemen.

It rained considerably in Brisbane on Saturday and more thunderstorms are predicted for Sunday.

We hope that this will not play a spolisport.

On-the-neighbour's-front, unlike the Government, Pakistan's cricket team should earn plaudits for completing a 5-0 whitewash of Zimbabwe in the ODI's in the Mobilink Cup.
A new-look Pakistan, without a handful of senior players, drove Zimbabwe into the ground with a comprehensive seven-wicket victory in the final one-dayer in Sheikhupura to clean sweep the Mobilink Cup 5-0. The overcast and bitterly cold conditions didn't faze debutant Khurram Manzoor and Younis Khan as they chased down a meagre target of 182 with 19 overs to spare.
What bodes well for the shpe of things to come insofar as Pakistan's cricket team is concerned is the emergence of spright youngsters who are ably complelmenting the experienced ones like Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq!
We Indians can also take a cue from Pakistan's line-up and must not rely on 'Josh' alone but on 'Josh with Hosh'.
All said and done, one match debacle does not sound a death knell for anyone. It can be one-off case in the one-off TT match. Let us hope for the best!