Ind vs Aus: Sachin Tendulkar rested as Australia opt to bat against India in Adelaide

NEW DELHI: Australian captain Michael Clarke won the toss and chose to bat against India in the fourth ODI of the tri-series at the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide on Sunday. Sachin Tendulkar has been rested.

Match Scorecard 

Gautam Gambhir comes back to in place of Tendulkar and Umesh Yadav replaces Praveen Kumar.

Australia have rested Michael Hussey and brought in Peter Forrest.

The last time India stepped out to play at the Adelaide Oval, their worst fears of a Test whitewash came true. This time around they return in a much better frame of mind and appear keen to take on the Aussies.

A win against Sri Lanka in the second game has provided the team with some much-needed confidence, and now India also have the cushion of being placed second on the points table following Lanka's loss to Australia at the WACA.

Australia, with two consecutive wins, lead the pack with nine points. India have three to Lanka's none.

Even though they came off winners, Australia's batting was made to look circumspect by the tidy Lankan bowlers, and this is something the Indian attack too will wish to emulate.

India have always found it difficult to pin down Australia in the latter's backyard and given how the summer has panned out, it would be doubly so difficult for the visitors.

India's batsmen don't seem to have learnt from their follies of Test matches. There are far too many irresponsible shots being played.

There is no thrust in putting on partnerships and even when there is no pressure, batsmen look to clear the big grounds in Australia and perish in the deep.

Importantly, India need a good start. Throughout this summer, be it in Tests or in shorter formats of the game, Indian openers have not yet put on a half century stand for the first wicket.

It transfers the pressure directly on the middle-order batsmen who are talented but largely unused to these conditions.

Australia are not without their own worry. They still are searching for a stable start at the top. Veteran Ricky Ponting has been a failure in both the matches thus far.

Opener David Warner has thumped a stroke or two and then left the scene. Fortunately for them, the work in the field has usually been overwhelming for the opponents.

Teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt.), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Ravinder Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav.

Australia: Michael Clarke (Capt.), David Warner, Matthew Wade, Ricky Ponting, Peter Forrest, David Hussey, Dan Christian, Ryan Harris, Mitchell Starc, Clint McKay, Xavier Doherty.