Ponting decides to chase runs; Hilfenhaus replaces Lee

It was a no brainer and Australia captain Ricky Ponting didn’t surprise anyone. He won the toss and promptly decided to chase the runs. The dew factor is likely to influence the evening proceedings and bowling is going to be a tricky affair.

“We are a good chaser and we have been chasing runs well in the recent past,” said Ponting, supporting his decision of opting to field first. Ponting has gone for two changes; medium pacer Ben Hilfenhaus and Shaun Marsh have replaced Brett Lee and James Hopes.

On the other hand, Yuvraj Singh, a genuine match-winner, has come back into the Indian side and replaced Virat Kohli. Putting a big target on the board is a must if India is looking to win for bowling later is going to be an arduous task. The onus is on openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar to give India a fine start.

Teams:

India: Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra

Australia: Shane Watson, Tim Paine (wk), Ricky Ponting (capt), Shaun Marsh, Michael Hussey, Adam Voges, Cameron White, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, Peter Siddle