At this moment India is trailing by one match in the seven-match series after the neck-to-neck finish, in Vadodara on Sunday. Incidentally, India has played Australia in 97 One-Day Internationals since 1980, winning 32 times, while Australia has won in 57 matches. Eight one-dayers failed to yield any result. In the 37 ODIs in which India has played host, the scale is more balanced at 19-14 in favour of Australia. This happens to be the fifth ODI series on Indian soil after '84, '86, '01 and '07. A lot is at stake for both the teams with Australia struggling under injuries and a general lack of form and India trying to put an end to their unreliable performance in one-day cricket.


It is important to give a little bit of statistics so as to put current happenings in the right perspective. The series may be in its early stage, but with six more matches to go in about a fortnight, strategies have to be decided pretty quickly. Australians in this series are missing Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin and Nathan Bracken and the latest injuries to other key players have only added to their difficulties. Also, in the second ODI, James Hopes, Brett Lee and possibly Mitchell Johnson are probably going to sit out. The visitors will have to depend on their reserve strength tomorrow as Ben Hilfenhaus and Doug Bollinger, who represented Victoria in the Champions League Twenty20, are certain to be called up and Opener Shaun Marsh or Jon Holland are being considered as replacement for Hopes. The good thing for Australia is that their batting side seems to be compensating for difficulties with the captain and his deputy both battling it out with ease at Vadodara. Nathan Hauritz in the bowling side has shown some promise.


India, on the other hand must be disappointed by the initial defeat especially since the bowlers fought out so bravely till the last. But now that Yuvraj Singh's return has been confirmed, the hosts would want to reap maximum benefits from the setbacks that are troubling Australia. More than anything, a loss today will put Dhoni's men in a lot of pressure as in that case, they will have to win four out of the remaining five matches to win the series. Yuvraj is expected to replace Suresh Raina or Ravindra Jadeja. It would be interesting to know if Dhoni takes Ganguly's and Gilichrist's advice and decides to move up the batting line now that Yuvraj is there to take care of the middle order. Ishant Sharma luckily for Indian bowling, is showing the brilliance that had characterized him in 2007-08 though possibly he needs to settle down to the game more quickly. Dhoni also said that death bowling continues to remain a major concern for the team and bowlers should concede lesser runs in the final overs.


This will be the first one-day international in Nagpur since the new stadium was built on the city's outskirts in Jamtha. By the way, you will have to wait till India meets Srilanka in the Cuttack ODI in December to see sari-clad cheerleaders doing their bit to support the team.