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AHMEDABAD: India's campaign in the World Cup faces its biggest challenge early in the knockout stages, against a team it would prefer to meet in the final.
The high-profile match between original favorite India and three-time defending champion Australia is eagerly awaited in a country obsessed with cricket. But sadly for Indian cricket fans, home advantage may not stand for much on Thursday.
Not only has the Indian Premier League made the country a second home for many players in the opposing squad, Australia also has a superb record on Indian soil.
Australia has won four of six bilateral limited-overs international series in India, with a win-loss record of 16-10.
India won the most recent series against Australia in October last year, but that does not count for much because it was a 1-0 win with two washouts. The only other win in a home limited-overs series was way back in 1986, when India prevailed 3-2. Australia won the World Cup for the first time the following year in India.
Australia's ODI series wins in India have been in 1984 (3-0), 2001 (3-2), 2007 (4-2) and 2009 (4-2).
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni knows exactly the challenge his team confronts against the world's No. 1-ranked team.
“Of course it's a very good side,” Dhoni said after Sunday's win over the West Indies confirmed the quarterfinal pairings. “They play tough cricket, they're quite expressive on the field at the same time.”
The domestic media and millions upon millions of fans are expecting Dhoni to emulate Kapil Dev, who led India to victory in the 1983 World Cup.
That only adds to pressure on the star-studded batting lineup, which is expected to always produce match-winning totals to compensate for weaker bowling and fielding. It has resulted in several late collapses in the World Cup, including losing its last nine wickets for 29 runs against South Africa.
If statistics favor Australia on Indian soil, so does the record in World Cups.
The last World Cup match India won against Australia was in 1987, one of its only two wins against the four-time champion in the tournament.
India has lost seven World Cup games to the Aussies, including two lopsided affairs in the 2003 World Cup, when it went down by nine wickets in a group match at Centurion and lost in the final at Johannesburg by 125 runs.
Australia, of course, has been nearly invincible in recent World Cups, its surprise loss to Pakistan on Saturday ending a 34-match unbroken streak in the tournament.
But captain Ricky Ponting wasn't worried about Australia's first World Cup loss since 1999.
“To be honest I don't think the loss hurt us at all,” Ponting said. “I know for the fact that the guys haven't been thinking about the winning streak.”
