Series in the bag, but don't expect Aussies to ease up

MUMBAI, October 15: The 'dead rubber' status of the seventh ODI between India and Australia at the Wankhede stadium on Wednesday may have created a dubious sort of history, with tickets allotted for the public not being picked up on the first day itself. But one believes it will not affect the attitude of the Aussies.
In 1986-87, India had taken a 3-1 lead against Sri Lanka when the final game was played at the Wankhede Stadium but tickets were sold out because it was the first-ever ODI at the stadium.
If the Aussies want to go all out to win again, it is because a 5-1 sweep will be perfect revenge for their defeat in the T20 World Cup. We had seen such a situation in 1983-84, when West Indies toured India and were smarting from the World Cup final defeat. But that time, there was at least a riposte from India in the form of Sunil Gavaskar, whose counterattacking 29th hundred stopped the West Indies in the second Test after they had won the first.
India needed something of that type here too. Yuvraj promised to do it but he clicked just once. Dhoni could have been the one to do it but he has been coming far too low in the order when his best scores have come at No 3.
In the wake of T20, a 300 score has become par in ODIs. So the onus is on bowlers to stop the batsmen from batting well. Is that easier said than done? Bapu Nadkarni, India's stingiest bowler of all time, said: "The line should be off-stump and coming in. The batsmen must feel that if they miss they will be out."
The other solution is innovation at the start, just like in the slog phase, but bowlers are scared to do this.