India’s crushing defeats in the first three One-day Internationals against Australia, has once again put Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy in the limelight. The Indian skipper along with his under-fire team will be looking for redemption in the fourth ODI in Canberra. Catch all live score and updates here. (LIVE SCORECARD | NEWS | PHOTOS | VIDEOS)
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Dhoni, however, has his hands full and avoiding a whitewash will not be any easy thing, especially with a misfiring bowling attack. India need to win at least one match to keep their ICC world No. 2 ranking intact.(India Aim for Pride)
India’s batsmen have impressed so far, posting big totals that required the hosts to make record chases in all three matches.
But the real problem have been the bowlers, who have been erratic. They have shown no purpose in the three ODIs in Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne to concede a 3-0 lead to Australia.
Dhoni, in hindsight, will know he made a mistake by dropping Ravichandran Ashwin in the third ODI at Melbourne with the pitch taking turn. Ahead of the Twenty20 series and the World Twenty20 at home, Dhoni will surely give some time to Ashwin to fine-tune his skills.(Kohli Says he’s Still a Work in Progress)
Youngsters Gurkeerat Mann and Manish Pandey will also probably get a look-in with Rishi Dhawan’s place in serious jeopardy after his poor outing in the last match.
Barinder Sran’s spot in the team is also up in the air, after he failed to emulate the performance of the first ODI in the next two. Sran could make way for Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who played the first ODI in Perth.(Shastri Wants Bowlers to Step up)
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Shikhar Dhawan might have bought some time with his half-century in Melbourne but critics will once again be out with their knives, monitoring his performance.
The left-hander hit only his second fifty in eight ODIs, but it was far from convincing and came at a very slow pace.
Meanwhile, a certain David Warner is back in the Australian fold from his paternity leave and will be looking to increase the visitor’s woes.(Warner Heaps Praise on Maxwell)
It will be the first time that India will take on Australia at the Manuka Oval. The Men in Blue have played here only once before, losing to Sri Lanka in the 2007-08 CB Tri-series.
Source: NDTV