Breakthrough vs Backlash

India head into this match with several factors going in their favour: form, weather, crowd, Tendulkar, Gwalior. Australia rely on just one:...

India head into this match with several factors going in their favour: form, weather, crowd, Tendulkar, Gwalior. Australia rely on just one: Reputation. Specifically, the awesome, near-legendary reputation of bouncing back stronger and meaner from the rare defeat.

Still, one can’t deny Rahul Dravid the spring in his step. Leading the Indian side in the absence of Saurav Ganguly, he’s proved a point with that emphatic win in Gwalior. He now seeks to ensure that India repeats its act under the lights at the Wankhede here tomorrow to ensure a berth in the final of the tri-series.

Different venues provide different conditions and, though Mumbai may be warmer than Gwalior, Dravid feels the track here may also assist spin —something he wants his bowlers to cash in on. ‘‘The spinners (Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble) are very important to our team. Bowling in tandem, they can create a lot of pressure during the middle overs.’’

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Given that the Australians failed to tackle spin under lights, winning the toss could provide another headstart to either side.

The usually circumspect Dravid almost went out on a limb, saying he was unperturbed by a relatively new Australian attack. But then reverted to type: ‘‘They have a lot of talent and they managed to pitch the ball in the right areas in the earlier games. I would never underestimate them.’’

He conceded that Australia’s batting would be a challenge for the Indian bowlers. ‘‘We have to be very disciplined as the margin of error is minimal, especially against batsmen like Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist ,and on these wickets.’’

Dravid’s masterstroke at Gwalior was moving VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh and Ajit Agarkar up the batting order ahead of himself. He says that is a key factor. ‘‘Flexibility is important and it also helps us have more options. If needed we’ll continue to do that.’’

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Whatever the batting order, the second-string Australian bowling attack will have their work cut out. However, their captain Ricky Ponting said he’d been pleased by the performance of Brad Williams and Nathan Bracken against the Kiwis at Faridabad.

Ponting stressed that his team has learnt its lessons from the Gwalior debacle and would go into the crucial tie with revenge on their minds. ‘‘Though we did not win in Gwalior, we learnt our lessons. We learnt how to play one-day cricket here in India.’’

He didn’t have to say any more. The Aussies prefer to let their actions speak instead.