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Believe it or not, after Brett Lee, James Hopes and Tim Paine, Australia have now lost the services of impressive paceman Peter Siddle as well. Siddle will also head back to Australia owing to a stiff left side following the visitors’ victory in the fourth ODI on Monday. Siddle sent down a mere five overs in the game, but Australia still managed to pull off the win thanks to the efforts of Doug Bollinger and Shane Watson, who scalped three wickets each.

Aussie team physio Kevin Sims informed the media, “Peter’s injury does not appear to be a serious problem, but it is unlikely he will be able to safely bowl within the next week which would therefore not allow him to have any further participation in the tour.”

As for a replacement, no official announcement has come out from Cricket Australia as of yet. And if and when they do, the impressive Dirk Nannes will be a frontrunner. He was lately seen in IPL 2 and bowled with great gusto and success. Earlier, Clint McKay and Moises Henriques were drafted into the squad following Australia continual loss of players to various kinds of injuries.

Dhoni blames batters

Indian skipper MS Dhoni blamed the team’s batsmen for the defeat at Mohali while praising the bowling and fielding effort. Dhoni felt 250 could have been chased down, especially after the start they got, but rued the fact that they failed as a batting unit. He opined that India should have batted out their quota of 50 overs.

The captain, though, stood by his decision to field first, claiming the dew factor would have made a prominent impact as the bowlers would have found it difficult to grip the ball and reiterated that it was the batting that was primarily responsible for the disappointing loss.

Dhoni also hoped that the youngsters in the side like Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli would learn the art of chasing soon, but added that they are still inexperienced so one can’t be harsh on them.

Ponting all praise for Bollinger

Dhoni’s opposition number Ricky Ponting, meanwhile, was all praise for newcomer Doug Bollinger. The left-arm quickie picked up three crucial Indian wickets – Sehwag, Kohli and Dhoni to set up Australia’s series-levelling win.

Describing him as “outstanding”, Ponting added that it was his spell that brought Australia back into the game after Sehwag’s sizzler. Bollinger ended with figures of 3 for 38 and it was only an all-round effort from Watson that prevented him from grabbing the Man of the Match.

Aussie pace spearhead Brett Lee will not take any further part in the ODI series in India. His elbow injury has meant he will fly back to Australia. Moreover, Lee is in danger of missing the home Test series against West Indies as well.

The fast bowler managed to bowl only six overs in the first ODI in Vadodara and had to sit out of the second game at Nagpur. Earlier, Lee couldn’t take part in this year’s Ashes as well, since he was unfit.

“Brett’s elbow injury has not responded as well to treatment as we would have liked and therefore a decision has been made to send him home to consult with an elbow specialist,” Cricket Australia’s physiotherapist Kevin Sims told the media and added, “With an accurate diagnosis we can determine how best to manage the injury and give Brett the best chance of being available for selection at the beginning of the Australian summer.”

The other injured member of the team, all-rounder James Hopes, who is still suffering from a hamstring problem isn’t going back home, but will miss the third ODI in Delhi as well after sitting out of the Nagpur ODI. “We hope he will be okay for Mohali,” Ricky Ponting was quoted as saying in the press.

Thankfully for Australia Tim Paine’s replacement, wicketkeeper Graham Manou, is expected to reach Delhi in time for the third ODI. Paine picked up a broke finger, yet managed to pull off some great catches in the loss at Nagpur. He is likely to be replaced at the top of the order by IPL 1 hero Shaun Marsh. However, Lee’s absence has undoubtedly dealt a severe blow to Australia’s chances.

Wet welcome for Aussies

As if they weren’t enough problems facing the Australian team, their preparations were further hampered when their net session at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi had to be put off owing to wet practice pitches. Apparently, the curator had no idea of what time the team was going to train and thus watered the pitches. In the end, the Australians had to be content with some light practice.
“I am very disappointed. It seems everybody in the world other than the grounds man here knew what we were going to train. To turn up here and find the wickets completely unusable is disappointing. We only had one training day, and I am sure by the time the Indian team comes down here, the wickets will be fine. So it’s a bit of a disadvantage for us,” an extremely frustrated Ponting told the media.

India‘s near-ruthless win at Nagpur can be attributed to a number of crucial factors. Indian skipper MS Dhoni’s knock undoubtedly stood out. But he got excellent support from some of the other batsmen and the bowling too looked a lot more potent with a mammoth score on the board. For Australia, their bowling lacked sting and the batsmen could do little after they lost early wickets in the chase.

Brett Lee’s absence in the Australian side stuck out like a sore thumb. Without their main wicket-taker, the bowling was highly impotent on a batting beauty. Mitchell Johnson, who was expected to take on the lead role in Lee’s absence, was particularly disappointing. The death overs exposed the entire Aussie bowling line-up. While Johnson sprayed it all over, the likes of Ben Hilfenhaus and Shane Watson failed to get the ball into the block hole, as a result of which Dhoni and Raina could swing their arms freely.

Amidst all the carnage, it was only Peter Siddle who stood out, keeping the ball right up to the bat and not allowing the Indian batsmen free runs. Unfortunately, his good performance was not well-reflected in his final bowling analysis. Off-spinner Nathan Hauritz managed to keep things tight. To India’s credit though, they ensured he did not get among the wickets. On rare occasions, the Aussies were slack in the field as well, with Ricky Ponting spilling a skier from Dhoni. That can be safely considered as an aberration and the Australians must be focused on improving the other two aspects of their game.

It can be said that, with a mountain to climb, they had very little chance of succeeding in the chase. Still, the batting performance could have been better. A majority of their batsmen got starts, but none among them converted it into a big one. If your highest score chasing a 350-plus target is 53, it is clear you haven’t been too smart. Here again, some praise needs to be reserved for the Indian bowlers.

Praveen Kumar showed a lot of heart in the manner in which he came back after the battering at Vadodora. The quick cameo he played towards the end in a losing cause must have helped his confidence. And he repaid the faith placed in him by shining in helpful conditions. The dismissals of both Tim Paine and Ricky Ponting were of classical in-swinging deliveries, which Kumar specializes in. It is great to see a bowler still willing to stick to the basics of swing bowling and succeed. The only problem with it is that he gets too predictable and ineffective when the pitch has nothing to offer. This is an aspect he has to work on if he desires to attain greater heights.

Even as Kumar was penetrative, Ishant Sharma’s ‘back to form’ performance was equally heartening. There were ample signs of it in the opening match, but he was still dishing out some loose. At Nagpur, however, he was closer to his best. Getting the wicket of Watson with his first ball must have certainly given him a lot of confidence. He used his height to great effect and the opener had no answer to his rising beauty. Despite his success, India would still do well to restrict his ODI appearances and have him play more Tests so that he can remain fresh for key contests. If there is one big worry for India in the bowling department, it has to be Harbhajan Singh. The Indian offie was yet again far from penetrative. It has been a while since Harbhajan has been going through such a patch. And India cannot afford it to continue for too long, especially with a deserving replacement like Amit Mishra in the wings.

Thanks to the super show by Dhoni and co with the bat at Nagpur, the batting is looking strong once again. And with conditions likely to remain pleasant for the batters throughout the series, they can put beyond their woes at least for the time being. For the Aussies, their top priority will be to try and get their bowling in shape. Brett Lee’s return will definitely help, but Johnson and Hilfenhaus must also realize that they are way better bowlers than what their figures displayed on Wednesday. The batting needs improvement as well though it’s not as big a worry as their bowling. All said and done, let’s not forget that they are indeed the number one team in the world. Nagpur is history and Delhi will be a fresh beginning for both teams.