WC warm-up: India lose top order cheaply

Agencies

Bangalore, 13 February 2011: After a steady start, India lost wickets quickly in their warm-up game against Australia. Earlier, India lost a couple of crucial wickets as they slid from a comfortable 54/1 to a rather precarious 63/3. Yuvraj Singh (1) was the latest victim as he was removed by Mitchell Johnson off a delivery that climbed sharply and caught the batsman unaware.

 

India were off to a steady start in their first warm-up game against Australia as they went past the 50-run mark in the 10th over of the innings.

 

However, the Indians lost the crucial wickets of Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli in process. While Gambhir made 6, Kohli was out for 21 runs.

 

India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first in their warm-up game against Australia at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. India have decided to rest Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan.

 

With memories of 2007 Caribbean World Cup disaster, where they rashed out in the opening round after losing to Bangladesh in the first match, still fresh in their minds the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side will be extra careful against the title holders Australia, who are coming into the tournament high on confidence after the 6-1 thrashing of England.

 

The match against Australia will also give an opportunity to middle-order batsmen Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to return to form.

 

The trio of Dhoni, Yuvraj and Raina all got starts in South Africa but failed to capitalize on them and would be desperate to return to form.

 

The match is of special importance for Raina, who faces tough competition from Virat Kohli and Yusuf Pathan, to retain his place in the playing eleven.

 

 Teams:

 

Australia (Playing XV): Shane Watson, Brad Haddin(w), Ricky Ponting(c), Michael Clarke, Cameron White, David Hussey, Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Jason Krejza, Doug Bollinger, John Hastings, Tim Paine, Shaun Tait, Callum Ferguson.

 

India (Playing XIII): Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(w/c), Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, S Sreesanth.