India vs Australia: Quick Flicks of the day

In an unexpected one-sided affair, Australia ran over a clueless Indian side and beat them convincingly by 9 wickets. From the start of the game, Australia were all over the Indians and hardly gave them any breathing space. In the end, India never looked like they could get anything out of this game. They were thoroughly outclassed by an in-form Australian side. Here are some of the special moments of the game.

The (Good?) old Chappell days: Captain MS Dhoni went with five bowlers and kept Virender Sehwag out of this game. Given that there was no other specialist opener in the side, this was a big gamble. To add to it, MSD sent Irfan Pathan to open the innings yet again. Guru Greg, wherever he was, would’ve smiled to himself.

Irfan not the best choice: Irfan Pathan opening the batting wasn’t the best choice that MSD made. Irfan cost the team a run in the very first ball as he assumed that Gambhir’s drive through the off-side would reach the boundary which it didn’t. He then laboured on to finally get out at a score of 30 off 31 deliveries, a poor showing in this format of the game.

Nothing went Dhoni’s way: Absolutely nothing except the toss went the Indian skipper’s way. His plan of opening the batting with Irfan Pathan back fired, his plan to play an extra bowler back fired and his spinner trio also weren’t effective.

Shane Watson‘s Hattrick: It’s indeed a hattrick of match winning performances by Shane Watson. A 42-ball 72 and 3 for 34 off his 4 overs handed him his third man of the match award in three games. He has been absolutely phenomenal.

Pat Cummins: Pat Cummins bowled exceptionally well to contain the Indian side and gave away just 16 in his quota of 4 overs. He struck gold when he surprised India’s most in-form batsman in the recent past, Virat Kohli with a bouncer that brought about his wicket. He also made a crucial breakthrough towards the end and removed captain Dhoni and helped restrict India to 139.

Net Run Rate: A comprehensive win has given Australia a lot to cheer about while Dhoni and his men will have a headache from this game. Their net run rate currently stand at +2.506 and -2.506 respectively. Its an uphill task for India from hereon.