Why did India lose to Australia, ODI 2009?

In chess terms- it is actually about a major prophylactic option, which could have put India in strong positions but they missed.

India were expected to beat an Australian side which was depleted, at home. Like many others, I too felt that the Aussie bowling would not last out 7 games with too much reliance of seamers and only one spinner- Hauritz- who was good but not lethal for sure.

Yuvraj Singh Dot Chess!

India vs Australia, 3rd ODI 2009, New Delhi
Indian lead 2-1

The Kotla Pitch in New Delhi, as usual, was slow and low with an uneven bounce. Ponting won the toss and batted first. He mentioned 225 as a par score and it turned out that it was a fair call, as India had to work hard to get there.

Aussies get Tendulkar by One Shot Bowling!

The last time Tendulkar played Australia in a big series, was in the CB Series, Australia 2008, where India won 2-0 in the finals. Tendulkar scored a hundred and a ninety in both the games.

Today, after Australia posted 292, they knew that a run-a-ball effort, which Tendulkar is perhaps the only player in world cricket to achieve without risk taking would dent their chances.

Aussies Curb Instincts...Out-Dot New Zealand!

ICC Champions Trophy 2009 Finals

New Zealand won the toss and batted first. Australians who have a great reputation of exploiting the dot-ball dilemma of the first innings (when a team bats first, they do not know the target- so the price a batting team pays for dot balls is not known- yet some strike rate is needed being an ODI and wickets are key since some decent total is also needed). So some mix of caution and scoring is needed). How much? That is a dilemma.