Overview

With the Champions Trophy out the way, many sides can now switch their focus to building toward the 2011 World Cup.

This series will give Australia and India the perfect opportunity to do just that.

Of course, there’s a trophy and bragging rights at stake so it’s unlikely that there will be too much experimenting for either side.

The hosts’ form in limited-overs competition has been extremely patchy in recent months. They struggled to stamp their authority against the West Indies in the Caribbean, were offered hit-and-miss cricket across the Compaq Cup in Sri Lanka and then flopped in the Champions Trophy in South Africa.

On paper they remain one of the strongest outfits in world cricket and the selectors have one of - if not - the biggest player pool to draw from, but unfortunately they just cannot get the combinations right. Rahul Dravid, Abhishek Nayar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Dinesh Karthik and Yusuf Pathan have all come and gone in recent tournaments.

The constant chopping and changing has not helped the core of the team and captain Mahendra Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma have all had one good game followed by a poor one. It’s about time they each string together a good run of form and with seven matches lined up, they won’t get a better opportunity to do so.

On the up side for India, Virender Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh have all recovered from injury and will strengthen the batting line-up considerably. Bowling-wise, despite Zaheer Khan’s absence through injury, Ashish Nehra, Sharma and Praveen Kumar will be favourites for the fast-bowling slots. Throw in spinners Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra and you’re met Read more…

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