COLOMBO, Sept 27: India are likely to go in with five specialist bowlers to plug their bowling loopholes when they take on Australia in their opening Super Eights fixture of the World Twenty20 here on Friday.

The comprehensive victory against England and Harbhajan Singh’s brilliant comeback has raised questions as to what exactly will be a winning combination against George Bailey’s men who have looked good in both their group league matches against Ireland and West Indies respectively.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said on Thursday the real battle in the event will begin with the Super Eights.

“We have enjoyed the tournament but the importance of the matches ahead multiplies,” said Dhoni, whose team faces Pakistan on Sunday and South Africa next Tuesday. “You can’t afford to have a bad day really.”

Dhoni has given clear indications that he would go in with five specialist bowlers, a move which will mean that India will have one batsman short.

In that case, either Virender Sehwag or Yuvraj Singh may have to sit out of the match and Dhoni admitted that it would be a ‘tough decision’.

It will be interesting to see what bowling combination Dhoni would prefer for the first game of this round and whether he would opt for three spinners or three pacers.

On current form, Lakshmipathy Balaji is a better bowler at the death overs than Zaheer Khan mainly because of the variety of slower deliveries that he has in his repertoire.

The two key batsmen in the Australian line-up are David Warner and Mike Hussey. The presence of the duo at the top of the order certainly means that Harbhajan’s inclusion is necessary because of his stupendous record against the left-handers.

Ravichandran Ashwin, who was rested against England, will also make a comeback into the playing XI. The other certainty in the bowling department is Irfan Pathan, who has been providing the team with breakthroughs regularly.

The batting, however, bears a much more settled look with the good news being that Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma are back among runs. A lot will depend on how Virat Kohli bats as he has been in the form of his life.

The only thing to worry will be Yuvraj’s place in batting order. The left-hander has been struggling with the bat.

Sharma’s half-century has certainly boosted his confidence and the innings has come at the right time as the margin for error is too little at this stage of the tournament.

Although the strip at the R. Premadasa Stadium will assist the slower bowlers, the Aussie fast bowlers are likely to test the Indian batsman with short-pitched stuff.

Australia’s trump card, according to Bailey, was their top all-rounder Shane Watson, who was Man-of-the-Match in both the preliminary matches.

Watson, who opens both the batting and bowling, hit 51 and took 3-26 against Ireland and then made 41 not out and claimed 2-29 in the second game against the West Indies.

“He plays such a key role, and he is so versatile that he would be one of the most feared players in the competition,” Bailey said of Watson. “His power is second to none but he just does not go out there and blast from ball one.

“And in terms of his bowling, he has set a really good example for some of our younger guys.”

Teams (from): INDIA: Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Ashok Dinda, Piyush Chawla, Manoj Tiwary.

AUSTRALIA: David Warner, Shane Watson, Michael Hussey, Cameron White, George Bailey (captain), Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade, Daniel Christian, Brad Hogg, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Xavier Doherty, Clint McKay, Ben Hilfenhaus, David Hussey. Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) and Richard Kettleborough (England).

TV umpire: Ian Gould (England).

Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka).