some straight points on the one day series...

the first match demonstrated very aptly that this series will be a close one... and as i said earlier the result of the match and eventually series will depend on which team shows more discipline on the field...

india ran very close to an unexpected victory... and while some may say india flattered themselves by the margin of defeat... i wonder what would have happened had the scenario been just the opposite...

one reaction would have been to hail australia for their never say die spirit and they would have gone on to say that this is why australia are a champion side coz even their no. 8 & 9 batsmen can come and contribute to the team cause...

but the more obvious reactions would have been to loathe our bowlers to allow no. 8 & 9 batsmen to score the way bhajji and praveen kumar scored against them... so much for in the name of 'in-depth analysis'...

having said that i think some minor tweaking will do us no harm... i would always prefer sehwag or for that matter gambhir over specialist slipper in sachin with his heavily bandaged forefinger... his natural reaction seems to protect that finger first and thats why his reactions are slow to the catches coming in... and this is also the reason he is not placing his body behind the ball in case the catch comes on the bounce...

any captain who allows nehra to field at long off or long on should seriously think about the man management on the field... and praveen should be told to curb his itch to experiment if he lands couple of balls in the good cordon... and for god sake no short ball... the guy just doesn't have the pace to surprise batsmen... and more over when you can swing both ways by bowling up why ruin the over with a mandatory itch to 'experiment' with length in the name of variations...?

the win has come at a cost to australia... while we will be near full strength tomorrow ozies will be missing lee and mitchell... but somewhere a fan in me wants australia to be beaten with full strength so there is no scope of ifs and buts left in anybodies mind...