Having brought about a remarkable turnaround in their fortunes, Indians are now clearly calling the shots as they go into the second one-dayer against Australia in Pune tomorrow hoping to increase their lead in the five-match series. The hosts will be without the services of the star of the first match Virendra Sehwag, who has been ruled out for the series due to a finger injury sustained in the first match at Bangalore, but with confidence sky-high, the Indians enjoy a psychological edge and start favourites for the first time in the series.
The Kolkata performance has done wonders for India and suddenly there is a certain discipline in the way they have batted, bowled and fielded. The Australians have shown that they too are susceptible to pressure and they would certainly like to put the record straight here. To be fair to the visitors, they are not playing a bad game at all. It is only that the masters of the mind game have been outplayed on their own turf by the Indians.
And the two men who played a major role in giving the Aussies a dose of their own medicine V V S Laxman and Rahul Dravid have carried their terrific form into the one-dayers. India's batting line-up, undoubtedly its main strength, has gained a bit more solidity with these two men performing consistently though captain Saurav Ganguly's vulnerability outside the off-stump continues to be a major worry.
Bureau Report