India vs Australia, 1st ODI Review

The absence of senior players was clearly reflected in the Indian team but skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was happy with the performance of his boys in the opening one-day international match against Australia, which was called off due to rain here Sunday.

Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat on a bouncy Gabba track as India were bowled out for 194 runs in 45 overs in a truncated match. None of the Indian batsmen could get a big score, which clearly exposed the lack of experience in the team but Dhoni had a different view.

He had words of praise for his fast bowlers, batsmen and also for debutant Manoj Tiwary (2). Gambhir (39) was the highest scorer followed by Dhoni (37) and Rohit Sharma (29).

'We lost quick wickets early and the way Sachin Tendulkar departed was very disappointing. But Rohit and Gambhir played good knocks,' said Dhoni.

Tendulkar (10), the oldest member in the side, was dismissed hit-wicket off Brett Lee and his departure left the Indian team reeling at 26 for two. Gambhir and Sharma tried to steady the ship with their 65-run third wicket, which was highest partnership in the match.

'Rohit and Manoj are all good and it was all about showing sheer confidence in the middle,' said Dhoni.

Asked why did he chose Tiwary over an experienced Suresh Raina, Dhoni said: 'I go by instinct. He (Tiwary) didn't have enough practice matches but had a good session at the nets. I have enough confidence in him and it was unfortunate that he didn't have a good debut match.'

Dhoni also said that the absence of injured Yuvraj Singh is a concern for his team. 'Yuvraj's absence is always a concern for a team. It changes the whole batting line-up, and makes it confusing.'

The Indian captain praised his young bowling attack, which reduced the Australians to 51 for three before rain intervened for the third time, forcing the organisers to abandon the match.

The spotlight was very much on Sreesanth, who had his few runs-in with burly Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds, right from the World Champions' tour to India last year. But the 24-year-old Kerala bowler kept his head cool and was bang on target, picking up two while Ishant Sharma scalped one.

'Ishant started in an amazing way and Sreesanth was also bang on target. I haven't done anything on Sreesanth. He was just aggressive and didn't cross the barrier,' said Dhoni.

Source: NewsPostIndia