After a new dawn, a new game

BANGALORE, Septenber 28: Aggression will be the key. India, basking in the glory of the Twenty20 World Cup triumph, will want to continue their winning streak. Australia will go all out to prove their might as they square up for the first ODI of the seven-match series at the Chinnaswamy stadium on Saturday. The focus will be on Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who successfully led his young brigade to an unbelievable victory.Starting the tournament as underdogs, they defeated England, South Africa, Australia and Pakistan en route to their triumph.
"They definitely deserved to win. Just look at the last three teams they beat. They deserved to come back as champions, but that’s over now," Ponting had said. Rightly so, that was Twenty20, with Dhoni at the head of a young team. Dhoni, now also the skipper of the ODI team, will have little time to warm up to the task as he leads a team that includes stars Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Zaheer Khan. Dhoni has received appreciation and applause from the ‘Big Three’ for his stupendous captaincy.
Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh got a call to the team after their performances in the World Twenty20. Irfan’s form will boost the bowling department, which will revolve around the in-form RP Singh and Zaheer Khan. For Sreesanth, making the playing XI is a wait and watch scenario.
A lot will be expected of local boy Robin Uthappa, who will be playing his first ODI match for India at an arena where he learnt the basics of the game. The Indians will have to get their act right as playing a seven-match series against the mighty Aussies in no easy task.
For the Aussies, Ricky Ponting’s fitness is the question of the hour. Stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist gave hints that Ponting might play the opener. "He is doing well. We are not 100 per cent sure, but he is very close to playing tomorrow’s match." With Michael Hussey and Shane Watson ruled out of the tour the Aussies could feel the heat.
Australia have not played much cricket after their World Cup triumph and are without stars like McGrath and Shane Warne. "We have got a very good side. We have had six changes since the World Cup final. Retirements, injuries and babies being born... But still we are well placed and believe that we have a team that can win tomorrow".