India look to restore some pride against Pakistan

Battered and bruised by yet another series defeat, India's struggling cricketers will seek to restore some pride when they go into the third and final one-dayer against arch-rivals Pakistan here tomorrow with the future of some of the under-performing stars at stake.

The collective failure of the top order batsmen even in home conditions has hurt the team badly in recent times and the hosts will need a huge spark of inspiration to prevent the spirited Pakistanis from achieving a 3-0 clean sweep. Clearly, the pressure will be on the Indians who have been plagued by an inexplicable form slump of their star batsmen while the limited and inexperienced bowling resources have compounded the misery for the hosts who have now sunk to a new low with the recent debacles. With the series already out of their grasp, the Indians may experiment by giving a chance to some of their bench players but whether they can change the team's sliding fortunes remains to be seen in a day-night game which will start at noon to neutralise the dew factor. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, in good form with the bat, has been at a loss to explain the repeated failures and there have been suggestions that he should promote himself up the order considering the poor form of the top half.

The hosts lost the first game in Chennai by six wickets and the second in Kolkata by 85 runs to give their arch foes their first series win on Indian soil since 2004-05.

Unless the Indians put up a far better display, the Ferozeshah Kotla could be a witness another drubbing for Dhoni and his struggling men.

Ajinkya Rahane, who has surprisingly not played a single match despite his decent showing in the two T20 games prior to the ODI series, is almost certain to feature in the playing eleven tomorrow.

... contd.

ALSO READ

IPL 2013: Sunrisers Hyderabad outclass Delhi Daredevils

Champions Trophy: With M S Dhoni around I am not looking to be wicketkeeper, says Dinesh Karthik

Whoever wins after losing is called baazigar, SRK on KKR winning IPL 2013

IPL 2013: Rajasthan Royals look to settle scores against Pune Warriors