Depleted Australia takes on India

Hyderabad, Nov 4 : All eyes will be on Sachin Tendulkar as India take on a depleted Australia in the crucial fifth one-dayer of the seven-match series at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here tomorrow.

Sachin Tendulkar, who is set to play the 435th ODI of his two-decade long international career, is seven runs short of the 17000-run milestone.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is aware of the fact that whenever Sachin goes out to bat the expectations continue to remain huge.

''Whenever Sachin goes to bat, there is so much responsibility and the expectations are bound to be huge. We hope he will get a big one tomorrow,'' he said.

With the series tied at 2-2, the fifth match at Hyderabad is crucial for both the teams to take a lead. On the importance of the match, Dhoni said, ''this is now a three-match series. Every game is important and we can’t afford to have an off day.'' There seems to be no injury concerns for Team India before an important game. ''Gautam Gambhir is fit. There are no injury concerns except that Ashish Nehra is having a mild cough,'' Dhoni stated.

Gambhir’s inclusion in the playing XI may result in the exclusion of Virat Kohli.

The Indian batsmen failed as a unit while chasing 250 at Mohali.

Dhoni emphasized on the need to build partnerships. He said, ''we have to bat well as a batting unit. It is important that one among our top three or four batsmen get a big score.'' Dhoni said that the series is scheduled in a comfortable manner.

He said, ''The schedule is fine. Usually the maximum gap provided between the games is two days.'' The Indian skipper expressed confidence in his bowlers. He said, ''Harbhajan has bowled well in the last two games. We are bowling well in the first overs and Ashish Nehra has been the pick. Praveen is also bowling well.'' While terming Jadeja as a bowling allrounder, Dhoni said, ''his batting becomes important for the team if we lose early wickets.''

--UNI

(c) 2009 Published with permission from United News of India.
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