The crowded itinerary, which can sometimes affect the intensity level of cricketers, can be advantageous, as it would be for the Indians as they take on the Australians in the one-day series. The Indians can quickly get rid of their euphoria of winning the Test series as a longer gap between the Tests and one-dayers would have dented their focus a little. Both the sides have made changes by bringing a few one-day specialists, which has become a trend of late. As many as five cricketers have been flown in to bolster the strength of the visiting side and the hosts have also made as many changes. The one-dayers will see both the sides playing that bit harder with Australia trying to salvage some pride and the hosts wanting to make it a double.

There has never been a time when the Indians were given a chance especially against the Aussies like this time around. The fantastic reverse in the Test series has fuelled the enthusiasm of the cricket crazy public as also the hopes of the Indians winning the one-day series. Sourav Ganguly who had a very ordinary series with the bat would like to make amends and with the public booing him on every occasion of late, his priority would be win them back with a string of big scores in the one-dayers. He will have the opportunities as he will open the innings with Tendulkar and these two have been a very successful pair in the shorter version of the game.

The Indians have improved their standard of fielding in leaps and bounds over the last few months. This has also been helped by the inclusion of a few very talented youngsters and this aspect might narrow whatever difference there is between the two sides. The selectors have retained Laxman, which is a welcome move as is the inclusion of Dinesh Mongia, Vijay Dahiya and Harbhajan Singh. Robin Singh, like Ganguly, will be under scrutiny and his recall has aroused mixed feelings. Agreed that he is a few summers older than the others are but his fitness level can never be questioned. He is still agile and his fielding has always been his biggest advantage and his experience will come in handy against the Australians. His drawback has been his inability to complete the quota of ten overs but that also stems from the fact that he does not enjoy the confidence of his captain. One does not understand why the Indian side cannot have both Robin Singh and Reetinder Sodhi in its ranks. It is ridiculous in more ways than one to suggest that Sodhi should replace Robin Singh. If it is a case of planning for the future, then Sodhi can be drafted into the side at the expense of Robin Singh. But it will be difficult to convince the discerning followers that the selectors have been looking ahead over the last four weeks. Anyway, we have been fed with the "horses for courses" line very frequently of late and quite obviously it is applicable in Robin's case.

The Australians have the versatility required to succeed in the one-dayers as their front line batsmen can bowl a few overs. Adam Gilchrist will open the innings and he can devastate any attack on his day. Bevan, one of the finest one-day batsmen will be the most dangerous customer as he plays the spinners well. Lehmann, Martyn and Symonds are the type of cricketers any captain would like to have in his team. In fact the Australians have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the one-dayers but they have shown in the past that they can crumble when it comes to chasing on slow turners. As a team they are one of the best in the world and it will be interesting to see how they cope up with the reverse in the Test series psychologically.

The hosts on the other hand will have problems when it comes to deciding the final composition of the team. There is no genuine all-rounder in the side with due respect to Robin Singh and under the circumstances Tendulkar fits that bill better than the others. The Indians have to go in with six batsmen (which includes Robin Singh), a keeper and four regular bowlers with Tendulkar, Robin Singh and Ganguly to share ten overs between them. Among the four bowlers Sunil Joshi needs more than adequate assistance for him to create an impression which makes the attack fragile. With the psychological advantage resting with the Indians, the Australians would be hoping to offset that with their aggression and versatility. In a nutshell this one-day series will keep the enthusiasts glued to the television sets, which by itself is enough incentive for the home team to play to its full potential.

© Woorkheri Raman