It will be a test of character for a young Indian team when it takes on World champions Australia in a tri-series One-Day International in Melbourne on Sunday following concern over the form of some of its middle order batsmen.
With India's first two matches being abandoned due to rain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his young brigade will need to pull up their socks against the hosts, who are high on confidence after the resounding 128-run victory over Sri Lanka on Friday.
While India's pacers have given a good account of themselves, the batting hasn't shown the desired consistency in the two rain-affected games.
One-day specialist Yuvraj Singh is going through a lean patch since the Test series while the form of some of the other younger batsmen, like Rohit Sharma and Robin Uthappa who joined the team for one-day series, is also a worrying factor. he focus will again be on the youngsters who replaced stalwarts like Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly in the team. Another batting failure will surely put enormous pressure on them.
The Indians will look for a flying start from the in-form Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag to post a good total on a slow Melbourne Cricket Ground track.
The Australians, on the other hand, have a settled batting line-up and the return of Matthew Hayden, who invariably reserves his best against India, has only strengthened their line-up.
The Australians are currently on top of the points table with seven points from two matches, the Indians have four from two rain-abandoned games while Sri Lanka have two from as many matches.
Captain Dhoni, who was not in the best of form till he scored an unbeaten 88 against Sri Lanka in Brisbane, will hope his team comes good in what promises to be a thrilling floodlit contest in front of a packed stadium.
India will have to squeeze out every possible run that exists in the field and partnerships will be the key to ensure momentum.
They will also be tested in the field, both inside the ring and in the outfield on a huge MCG arena where only the strongest with the best method can fire in a flat return.
It's a kind of pitch which usually doesn't help big strokes and the Indians' adaptability will be closely watched.
In sum, India should not allow the repeat of what happened to Sri Lanka in Sydney on Friday after the latter hung back in the square and allowed Australia to recover.
Australia appear extremely formidable in all departments even though the likes of Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist are not in the best of form.
Sunday promises to be sunny throughout and India will have their first full game.
Teams (likely):
Australia: Ricky Ponting (capt), Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey, Andrew Symonds, James Hopes, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken and Mitchell Johnson.
India: Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Robin Uthappa, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma and S Sreesanth.
Match starts at 8.45 IST.
