By Chloe Saltau
CRICKET authorities are depending on the heated rivalry between Australia and India to bring some life to an ailing triangular series last night, Virender Sehwag was happy to oblige by claiming his was the only country capable of beating the world champions.
A little more than a week after 84,000 people packed the MCG for the Twenty20 international, the one-day series has been marred by two washouts followed by Australia's 128-run flogging of Sri Lanka in Sydney on Friday.
The Melbourne Cricket Club would be delighted with a crowd of 50,000 for today's Australia-India clash, and Cricket Victoria chief executive Tony Dodemaide admitted to some uncertainty about how Melbourne's three one-day matches, which encroach on the beginning of the AFL season for the first time, would be attended.
"It is a bit of a wait and see for us, particularly the later games," Dodemaide said. "There is no doubt that there will still be strong interest for Australia versus India; they compete very well against each other. There are the ebbs and flows of their relationship, and it's also very possibly the last time Victorian people will get to see the great Sachin Tendulkar.
"For the later games [against Sri Lanka on February 22 and 29], I guess it depends how the series pans out. How often are people going to see Adam Gilchrist in Australian colours? It is a bit later than we have had to deal with before, with other attractions starting to take the attention, but we are hoping the contest speaks for itself."
The contest was so lopsided against Sri Lanka that Brett Lee yesterday spoke of Australia's pursuit of "the perfect game".
Cricket Australia will abandon the tired triangular format from next summer, replacing it with short, sharp head-to-head series.
Sehwag said the Indians' recent achievements against Australia in Test cricket proved Australia were afraid of losing to them.
But while the past 11 Tests played between the two cricket superpowers have produced five Australian wins, three Indian victories and three draws, Australia have been dominant in one-day cricket in that time, losing only three of their past 16 encounters.
This did not deter India's free-spirited opening batsman, who was confident the tourists could defeat Australia tonight despite fielding a young team that is in the process of rebuilding for the 2011 World Cup.
"They know India is the only team that can beat them, so we are preparing hard for that and hopefully we'll do well," Sehwag said. "We've prepared ourselves for tomorrow's big game and if we beat Australia, then maybe we're through to the finals.
"The Indian team last time also won one Test match, and this time also. Nobody else beats them here, so that's why maybe they are scared and a little worried about the Indian team. This team has the potential to beat Australia in Australia, so that is why they are saying it's a big game for Australia tomorrow."
The Indian limited-overs team has spent several days preparing in Melbourne after its one-day specialists struggled to adjust to the conditions in the early matches.
There were some encouraging signs when emerging batsman Gautam Gambhir struck a fine, unbeaten century against Sri Lanka before the game was abandoned in Brisbane. Melbourne's drop-in pitch is, like the SCG wicket, expected to be slow and suit the inclusion of specialist spinner Brad Hogg ahead of seam bowler Stuart Clark, while India are contemplating the use of an extra spinner.
Meanwhile, the Australian and Indian boards continue to clash over the Indian Premier League, with Cricket Australia yesterday denying it had cleared Gilchrist to play in this year's tournament despite the BCCI's public assertion that it had.
Whilst there is no suggestion Cricket Australia will block Gilchrist's desire to play in the lucrative Twenty20 competition, given his contribution to the game, he has not yet been granted permission.