Sport

The final series is really open

Friday’s game between Sri Lanka and Australia might just have made up Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s mind on the decision at the toss. If he wins, he will most certainly opt to bat. Even though conditions at the Sydney Cricket Ground are vastly different from those at the MCG, Australia’s poor form on Friday had more to do with poor batting and less with the conditions.

I am certain that India’s young and in-form bowling attack will be a handful on Sunday as they have been troubling the host right through the summer. The way I see it, this final series is really open, and will most probably go down to the third game.

The poor form of batsmen from all three teams involved has marked this tri-series. Sri Lanka’s poor form was particularly disappointing, with only Kumar Sangakkara showing some grit and technique.

The most disappointing performance was that of Mahela Jayawardene, because he and Sanath Jayasuriya were simply unable to come to terms with the conditions. No wonder they were out of the tournament even before their final game.

For the Indians, the main problem has been the top order. Sachin Tendulkar has not been consistent enough, and against Australia, he has been having a couple of problems facing Brett Lee.

The little champion looks a little below par, and it does not help that Lee is bowling better than ever before.

Apparently, Tendulkar does not have a single three-figure score in Australia in ODIs, and what better time to rectify that statistic than a final?

Nevertheless, while Tendulkar has looked less than sublime in this tri-series, I would never write off a champion like him.

Among the younger batsmen, Gautam Gambhir has been exceptional. I was particularly impressed by his temperament and the way he plays spin. Rohit Sharma also looks like he is a player to watch out for.

These youngsters came in amid much debate about whether to replace one-day veterans like Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. I am sure the old warhorses would have done well in the one-dayers, but the youngsters have not done badly either.

One has to look ahead at some point and it’s good that the selectors have decided to plan ahead.

For the Australians, their batting continues to be an area of concern. Apart from Adam Gilchrist none of the other guys seem to be in any sort of form. The top order has not been firing, and even Andrew Symonds has had a disappointing series.

The fact is that Australia has not played at its best in the tournament so far, and has been lucky to get away with some off-colour batting performances. Its bowlers have been in great rhythm, which is why it lost only two games of the seven it completed in the tournament.

However, Australia always plays very well when it is in a final. The big game galvanises it and gets the best out of its batsmen. India on the other hand has always been non-starters in finals. Its record in deciders as well as finals is extremely ordinary.

It remains to be seen whether generation next of Indian cricket, which has been pretty impressive in this tournament, can do what its illustrious predecessors were unable to in 1999-2000 and 2003-2004 by winning a final in Australia!

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