http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 coach Tim Nielson claims pressure will be on India in quarterfinal of ICC World Cup 2011
Australia’s coach Tim Nielson has claimed that his team will not be under pressure in their quarterfinal match of the ICC World Cup 2011 against India.
He said that the hosts will be the ones under a lot of stress in order to perform in front of their home crowd. The match between Australia and India will be played on Thursday, 24 http://www.senore.com/Cricket/March-c74391, 2011 at Ahmedabad in India.
Nielson stated, “It’s (playing at home) a huge factor for them. There’s some pressure there and if we can start the game well and maybe quieten the crowd that will play on the mind of the Indian team.”
He further added, “It would be nice to think we can sneak under the radar a bit and just go about our preparation over the next few days and be as ready to go as we can be.”
According to the Australian coach, the quarterfinal against India will be like a mini-final. He said that the team expected to meet the Men in Blue in the final of the mega event.
However, that will not be the case, as the results did not turn out to be the way Nielson thought. The Kangaroos would have expected to finish on top of their group, but they were denied that spot after their loss against Pakistan.
The Men in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 earlier in the tournament.
Australia had to settle down for number three in their group after a surprise show by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755.
On the other hand, India were expected to be the most dominant team in their pool. However, the co-hosts could not live up to the expectations of their fans, as they struggled to perform against stronger opponents.
Their batsmen scored the bulk of runs for them, but the bowlers were below par as they failed to defend huge totals against better oppositions. If the trend continues, Australia might be able to knock the Men in Blue out of the tournament.
The defending champions have a balanced squad, but their lower middle-order has struggled to score runs consistently for them. However, players like Cameron White and Michael Hussey may find some form against the weak bowling attack of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750.
Australia’s captain Ricky Ponting has also not scored much runs for his team in this tournament, but the veteran is a big match player. The 36-year-old may not be retained as the captain of his team after this World Cup and he will look to end his reign
with another title win.
On the other hand, India will yet again rely on their batting. However, they will not be able to win matches against stronger opponents with their weak bowling attack.
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