da premier bet： Four days after he went for the small matter of 87 from seven oversagainst West Indies, Stuart Clark has an immediate chance at redemption asAustralia take on India for a place in the DLF Cup final
Preview by Dileep Premachandran in Kuala Lumpur21-Sep-2006
India’s chances will hinge on the start Rahul Dravid and Tendulkar can give them © Getty Images
Four days after he went for the small matter of 87 from seven oversagainst West Indies, Stuart Clark has an immediate chance at redemption asAustralia take on India for a place in the DLF Cup final. Under normalcircumstances, it’s doubtful whether he would have played, but withAustralia having pencilled in their teams for the four league games longago, he gets this opportunity against an Indian side that will no doubt dotheir best to target him.Clark is a cool customer, and his decision to keep the match ball afterthe pounding he received on Monday said much about his unflappable nature,but with Shane Watson, who has had an outstanding tournament, and NathanBracken missing from the line-up, there will be immense pressure on himwhen he comes on as first change for Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee.McGrath gave indications of being back to his best in the two matches heplayed, and Lee was into his stride straight away against West Indies. Ifthe Indian top order bat as they did against the gentle medium pace ofDwayne Smith and Dwayne Bravo, they may as well not bother turning up.But India have a bit of a history when it comes to these sudden-deathcontests. And in Sachin Tendulkar, they have a man apparently anxious toprove that rumours of his decline are highly premature. What they don’thave is a batting order in any sort of form. Much will depend once againon what sort of start Rahul Dravid and Tendulkar can give them.Virender Sehwag needs to improve on his tournament aggregate of 18 runs,and Yuvraj Singh could do with a run or two. As for Mahendra Singh Dhoni,seemingly in superb touch until the most atrocious of hoicks against WestIndies, this is an opportunity to get back to the form of last season,when he slammed most attacks he faced to all corners. For these men, andothers like Suresh Raina, this is the ultimate test. West Indies may awaitin the final if they get through, but victory against a near full-strengthAustralian side is as good as it gets.Dravid and Greg Chappell will no doubt have taken a close look at footagefrom the last game they played against Australia. Watson and MichaelClarke, who made the bulk of the runs then, sit out this one, but therelentlessly consistent and prolific Michael Hussey will pose an entirelydifferent challenge. Once again, spin could hold the key, with Australiahaving struggled to eke out 68 runs in 20 overs against Harbhajan Singhand Sehwag in the previous match.That’s not to say that India lack firepower in the pace department. MunafPatel has improved with every game, while Ajit Agarkar has alliedconsistency to his skiddy pace and swing. There’s also Sreesanth, whosegenuinely quick spell on Wednesday prompted many to wonder why he had beenleft out of the squad for the Champions Trophy.These two teams usually don’t do dull games, and with Tendulkar andMcGrath on collision course once again, this has every ingredient requiredto be another tasty encounter. The winners will go into the final inconfident mood, leaving the losers to put salve on their wounded prideahead of the Champions Trophy.India (likely): 1 Sachin Tendulkar, 2 Rahul Dravid (capt), 3Virender Sehwag, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni(wk), 7 Ajit Agarkar, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Rudra Pratap Singh, 10 SSreesanth, 11 Munaf Patel.Australia 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Simon Katich, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt),4 Damien Martyn, 5 Andrew Symonds, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8Brad Hogg, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Stuart Clark, 11 Glenn McGrath.