India out for revenge

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India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (right). With the war of words between the sides, the stage is set for a thrilling conclusion to the last triangular one-day series when the finals get underway with a clash between arch rivals Australia and India on Sunday.

With the war of words between the sides, the stage is set for a thrilling conclusion to the last triangular one-day series when the finals get underway with a clash between arch rivals Australia and India here on Sunday. It has been a bitter campaign between the sides, especially since the second Test in Sydney in early January, but the Indians can gain revenge for their 2-1 loss in the Test series by upsetting the home side in the best-of-three finals. The tri-series concept will be scrapped at the end of this tournament and victory would give Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men evidence to back their claims that they are the challenger to Australia's dominance of world cricket. There will be no shortage of motivation for the two sides, after all the ill feeling between the sides over the last two months. The bad blood first surfaced during the second Test, when Harbhajan Singh copped a three-match suspension for allegedly racially abusing Andrew Symonds, a suspension overturned at an International Cricket Council appeal hearing. This week tensions exploded again, with Ishant Sharma fined for a verbal exchange with Symonds and the Indians countering with a complaint about provocative behaviour by the Australians. Matthew Hayden then called Harbhajan an "obnoxious weed" on radio and the Indian spinner responded by saying the big opener was one of the least liked players in world cricket. While plenty of words have been exchanged, the Indians notched just one win over the home side in their four qualifying matches and have just one victory from their last 10 one-day games against the Australians. However, they have taken confidence out of their narrow loss to Australia at their last meeting, also in Sydney, on Sunday. Set a mammoth 318 to win, India lost by just 18 runs despite a top order collapse. Encouragingly for India, several of their most important batsmen appear to be hitting their straps at the right time. Star batsman Sachin Tendulkar produced his first meaningful innings of the tournament in India's final qualifying game against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, belting 63 from just 54 balls in an ominous sign ahead of the finals. After a terrible summer with the bat, the enigmatic Yuvraj Singh has finally shown signs of his best form with brisk knocks of 76 and 36 in India's last two matches against Sri Lanka. Gautam Gambhir has been in superb form, with 113 and an unbeaten 63 in his last two innings, while Robin Uthappa showed his potential with a half-century against Australia last Sunday. With Dhoni in top form with the bat throughout the series, the Indian batting has the potential to make the finals very interesting. Speaking after his team's win over Sri Lanka on Tuesday, Dhoni said he believed his side was peaking for the finals. However, Australia will also fancy their chances as they attempt to send retiring duo Adam Gilchrist and Brad Hogg off in winning style. Dhoni noted that Australian captain Ricky Ponting was ready to make a big impact, having finally burst out of a form slump with a commanding century at the SCG last Sunday. Throughout the series, Australia's seam bowlers have shown they were capable of defending just about any total, with Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken, Mitchell Johnson, Stuart Clark and all-rounder James Hopes all performing with distinction. But India has its own trump cards with the new ball in teenage rising star Sharma and swing bowler Irfan Pathan. Although the fiery Shanth Sreesanth has been out of form, Praveen Kumar stepped up with four wickets in the win over Sri Lanka on Tuesday. Likely teams: Australia - Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Michael Hussey, James Hopes, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken. India - Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Shanth Sreesanth. http://www.krishcricket.com/html/afpnews/newsmoredetails.aspx?id=1258

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India have momentum to take on Australia - Rohit Despite losing to Australia twice in a row in the league phase, India are confident they have the advantage going into the CB Series finals. Much of that confidence comes from their two victories in the last three games, both against Sri Lanka, and their fight against Australia despite losing to them, Rohit Sharma, the middle-order batsman, said on Friday. "We've been doing well in the last couple of games and we are confident about the final," Rohit said as the Indians held their first practice session at the SCG for the first final on Sunday. In Adelaide, India failed to chase a small target of 203 and folded up for 153 while in Sydney they suffered early blows before Gautam Gambhir and later Robin Uthappa took the fight to Australia. "We are not thinking about the fact that they've beaten us twice," Rohit said. "Even in Sydney, from 4 for 51 we managed to reach close to 300, so our confidence has gone up." Rohit has been one of the finds of the tour so far, despite a few low scores. Against Australia in Melbourne, his unbeaten 39 featured in a match-winning unbeaten 58-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Mahendra Singh Dhoni. In the next game against Sri Lanka in Canberra, he scored an unbeaten 70, though India lost by eight wickets in a rain-affected match. Rohit admits he has not been able to remain consistent and it is important to "settle down first, play a few overs and then be aggressive throughout." Speaking on the inconsistent nature of the batting order, especially at the top, Dhoni had commented that some of the players were scoring in "patches" and Rohit was one of them.

However, Rohit was confident he'd progress fast as it was all part of the learning curve. "I have learned how to build an innings, especially after the partnership I had with Dhoni in Melbourne," he said. That partnership came against some of the best spells of fast bowling in the tournament from Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson and Stuart Clark. In Adelaide, the pair put on 63 for the fourth wicket against Sri Lanka after being 3 for 35. Once again, Rohit showed the character to withstand pressure by staying calm, rotating the strike and keeping the fielders busy. However, he made only 24 and fell to a rush of blood. Then at the same venue against Australia, Dhoni's rearguard action after a top-order collapse was halted by a calf injury; Rohit came on as his runner but was slow off the blocks for a tight single and his full-stretch dive was not enough to save his captain. "It was the umpire's mistake because the umpire had asked me not take starts", Rohit said, adding his captain was supportive instead. "Dhoni said these sort of things happen and I would run for him the next time." At 20 years and 12 games old, Rohit has shown the class and the timing that some of the best batsmen possess and he is being spoken of as the future of Indian batting. He appears to understand the responsibility that comes with it. "People expect something out of me, so it's a challenge for me. I should take it in a positive way and keep doing what I've been doing." http://content-gulf.cricinfo.com/cbs/content/story/340353.html