India vs Australia - India Face Must Win Situation Against Aussies

Centurion: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is looking forward to an improved performance from his team in a crucial match against formidable Australia in the Champions Trophy on Monday.

India started their campaign on an unimpressive note, putting in below-par bowling and batting displays to lose their opening game against arch-rivals Pakistan by 54 runs on Saturday.

Pakistan are in a strong position to qualify for the semi-finals from the four-team Group A, having won their matches against India and the West Indies. Australia have won their first match, while the West Indies are winless.

India looked a couple of quality bowlers short against Pakistan, who gained a big advantage after posting 302 in the day-night match on a good batting pitch. Left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra alone impressed, finishing with 4 for 55.

"We didn't bowl well. I tried whatever we had, but the captain can't really go and bowl. At the end of the day, the bowlers have to go and bowl," said the Indian captian.

"It's all about adapting to conditions. We should have adapted to the conditions. We could have done a lot better. Frankly speaking, I thought I was short of three bowlers. I didn't know who to turn to."

The Indian bowlers cannot afford to have another off-day as defending champions Australia have a strong batting line-up.

Australia's depth in batting was on view in their opening match against the West Indies on a difficult track in Johannesburg on Saturday, where they managed to reach 275 for 8 after being 171 for 7 at one stage.

Skipper Ricky Ponting top-scored with an impressive 79, but it was lower-order batsman Mitchell Johnson who boosted the total with a rapidfire 73 not out.

"It was particularly hard work early on. It was a difficult wicket, so to get that sort of total was good going," Ponting said after the match.

"The batsmen did a pretty good job and Johnson finished things off pretty well for us and those runs proved vital in the game."

The pitch at Centurion is expected to favour batsmen more than fast bowlers as Pakistan showed against India on Saturday, with Shoaib Malik scoring a brisk century and Mohammad Yousuf making an 88-ball 87.

Australia are likely to field the same side that beat the West Indies by 50 runs, with batsman Michael Clarke still doubtful due to a back pain.

India, already without key batsman Yuvraj Singh due to a finger injury, will also need to bat better against Australia having excellent fast bowlers in Brett Lee and Johnson.

Team news

Australia: Clarke's stiff back ruled him out of the game against West Indies and Australia will be hoping he can get up for what should be a much tougher contest with India. Ferguson, White and Hopes are the likely contenders to drop out of the side.

Squad (likely): Shane Watson, Tim Paine (wk), Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Cameron White, James Hopes, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Nathan Hauritz, Peter Siddle.

India: MS Dhoni said he felt three bowlers short at times, such was the ease with which runs were scored in the middle of Pakistan's innings, and India are certain to play five specialist bowlers on Monday. Harbhajan Singh did not bowl well against Pakistan but he is a bogey player for Australia and regularly lifts against them.

Squad (likely): Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, 5 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan/Amit Mishra, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Ashish Nehra.

Pitch and conditions
There is strong chance of showers in the evening, so the teams should bear that in mind at the toss. India have the advantage of having just played in Centurion, where the conditions are different to the Wanderers. The surface is much slower and provides more assistance to the spinners. Runs are available if the bowlers fail to adjust and Australia will need to sharpen their efforts after struggling to run through West Indies on a cracking and helpful Johannesburg pitch.

Stats and trivia

• Australia and India seem to play each other so often that it's hard to believe they haven't met in an ODI for 18 months, when India wrapped up the CB Series at the Gabba. It's so long ago that Adam Gilchrist was still playing
• India have won four of eight ODIs they've played in Centurion; Australia have won four of seven. Both teams have lost their past two one-dayers there
• Not since 2003 have India won a one-day international in South Africa; in the meantime they've lost six
• The last time these teams met at Centurion, India were walloped by nine wickets, during the 2003 World Cup

Match facts
Monday, September 28, 2009 (day/night)
Start time 14.30, 12.30 GMT, 18:00 IST