Australia captain Ricky Ponting warned Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s celebrating Indians on Thursday that the tourists are determined to start the one-day series on a winning note on Saturday.
Ponting said India would be under pressure after lifting the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa and his side had all the resources they needed, despite missing key players.
”We have a talented side and have to apply pressure on the opposition all the time. We always want to win every game we play,” Ponting told reporters a day after arriving in India to play seven one-day internationals.
”I think India will be under pressure after winning in South Africa and we hope to start with a victory on Saturday. We also have a good record against India, especially in one-dayers.”
India beat Australia in the Twenty20 semifinal in South Africa, but skipper Ponting said: ”The Twenty20 win is great, but it’s a thing of the past.”
Dhoni hopes to add to his growing stature with a winning display against the 50-over World Cup winners after his young squad returned home on Wednesday from South Africa to a hero’s welcome.
The wicketkeeper-batsman raised expectations in cricket-mad India with a memorable victory in South Africa in his first tournament as captain.
It was India’s first big success at world level since winning the 1983 World Cup in England under Kapil Dev’s captaincy.
Dhoni has already earned lavish praise from former cricketers for his shrewd handling of the side in South Africa, but his real test comes now against the Australians, who are always formidable in a 50-over contests.
Missing from Australia’s Caribbean World Cup-winning squad are batsman Michael Hussey, fast bowler Shaun Tait and all-rounder Shane Watson.
Paceman Nathan Bracken returned home from South Africa on compassionate leave to be with his wife as she prepares to give birth to their first child. He may figure in the series at some stage so a replacement has not been named.
Adam Voges was added to the injury-hit squad as cover for Ponting, who is recovering from a hamstring injury, while Brad Haddin replaced Hussey. All-rounder James Hopes stands in for Watson.
Australia may not be at full strength but have the players to rise to the occasion, a trait which helped them win the World Cup for a record third successive time in the Caribbean earlier this year.
The tourists boast explosive batsmen in Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds, who are capable of demoralising the Indian attack with some big hitting.
India will be bolstered by the return of the talented batting trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, who had opted out of the Twenty20 cup. Each has completed 10 000 runs in one-day
internationals.
The Indian bowling also looks sharp, with the comebacks of seamers Irfan Pathan and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who were axed from the squad for a recent one-day series in England. — Sapa-AFP