Simply put, T20 is a lottery. It you hit it, you win it. Its the punter's dream, his addiction and his pitfall too! The upcoming India vs Australia T20 is a virtual sellout. Last time I checked, more than 90000 tickets were gone; few remain in the general admission category. Only a few thousand members' tickets still remain. The max. capacity of the G is close to 120,000 so I guess, last minute fans still stand a chance. More pertinently, I am not one of them. I will be enjoying the game in High-Definition at home. Its the first time a sports match is being telecast on Australian national Television in Hi-Def.
So far, so good; now, about the match up itself: this time around, Australia have the definite edge over the world champions!! (Do remember India are the T20 world champs.. hehe!!) The young Indian contingent do not have any match practice in Australian conditions going into the contest. I confidently believe they are under prepared and even a bit nervous. However, the Indian bowling will take care of itself. My five bowlers would be Sreesanth, Irfan, Ishant, Praveen Kumar and Bhajji with Sehwag and Yuvraj bowling an over or two if needed. For once, the Indians will match Australia if not better them on the field. Trust me, this will be an experience to savour!
The batting is the biggest worry for the tourists. The Australian line up is good enough to post a score of 150 and even chase such a score against our bowling at the MCG. The question is whether our batting can match up! Shaun Tait will not be playing by the looks of it which means the Aussie bowling will once again be led by Lee followed by Bracken, Johnson, Hogg and Symmo. They might give Hilfenhaus a run; lets wait and watch. I do not think the Indian batting led by Sehwag, Gambhir, Uthappa, Rohit Sharma, Yuvi and the rest will be able to deal with it. If I were Dhoni, I would include Sachin in the team simply because Sachin has been down under for a month. Yuvraj and Sehwag along with Dhoni himself hold the key. One of these guys (and Sachin, if he plays) will have to fire.
India's best chance is to put up a score of 150+ and defend it. If the Aussies bat first and post anything over 160, I must admit, they will win their first T20 against India.
So far, so good; now, about the match up itself: this time around, Australia have the definite edge over the world champions!! (Do remember India are the T20 world champs.. hehe!!) The young Indian contingent do not have any match practice in Australian conditions going into the contest. I confidently believe they are under prepared and even a bit nervous. However, the Indian bowling will take care of itself. My five bowlers would be Sreesanth, Irfan, Ishant, Praveen Kumar and Bhajji with Sehwag and Yuvraj bowling an over or two if needed. For once, the Indians will match Australia if not better them on the field. Trust me, this will be an experience to savour!
The batting is the biggest worry for the tourists. The Australian line up is good enough to post a score of 150 and even chase such a score against our bowling at the MCG. The question is whether our batting can match up! Shaun Tait will not be playing by the looks of it which means the Aussie bowling will once again be led by Lee followed by Bracken, Johnson, Hogg and Symmo. They might give Hilfenhaus a run; lets wait and watch. I do not think the Indian batting led by Sehwag, Gambhir, Uthappa, Rohit Sharma, Yuvi and the rest will be able to deal with it. If I were Dhoni, I would include Sachin in the team simply because Sachin has been down under for a month. Yuvraj and Sehwag along with Dhoni himself hold the key. One of these guys (and Sachin, if he plays) will have to fire.
India's best chance is to put up a score of 150+ and defend it. If the Aussies bat first and post anything over 160, I must admit, they will win their first T20 against India.
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