Following the Indians from the city with the zero-mile marker towards the sprawling stadium on its outskirts, the milestone announcing ‘Kanyakumari 1507 kms’ to the south is symbolic of the direction Team India have taken in recent weeks on the ODI circuit.

But there were announcements made under the noon sun on Tuesday that suggested a possible upswing was just round the corner for Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s once-top-ranked unit. In a twist of fate, the mood in the two camps was contrary to the 1-0 series scoreline — Australia, with wrinkles on their foreheads, didn’t seem like a team who had pulled off a thrilling win in Baroda last week, and India didn’t look like they were struggling to get going. The hosts got a shot in the arm with all-rounder Yuvraj Singh declared fit to play in Wednesday’s second ODI, while the Australian pace battery seemed to disintegrate with paceman Brett Lee and all-rounder James Hopes ruled out, and left-arm seamer Mitchell Johnson iffy.

“If Mitchell and Brett can’t play, we’ll be losing about 300 matches between them in terms of experience. James Hopes has played 60 or 70 games as well, so that makes it more than 350,” said Australian coach Tim Nielsen, who is obviously a worried man. “It was a bit of a scatter-bomb yesterday — I don’t remember a team losing three bowlers in one day.”

To carry the reasoning forward, the Australian misfortune multiplied with Yuvraj giving India an additional 239 matches. Incidentally, India’s recent drop in form had coincided with Yuvraj’s absence after a pre-Champions Trophy net session sent him on a rehabilitation list already including Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag. But with his comeback closely following Sehwag’s return, the Indian batting line-up will be at full strength again after nearly six months.

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