It's do-or-die for India in Guwahai today

It will be nothing short of cricketing disaster if India allow Aus to walk away with the ODI series today

It will be nothing short of cricketing disaster if India allow Aus to walk away with the ODI series today

Save skipper Ricky Ponting and deputy Michael Hussey, this Australian team looks like an Australia 'A' side. Yet, they are on the verge of a series victory against India.

A loss today will mean Australia walk away with the honours and it will be nothing short of shameful for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team who have not done justice to their No 2 ranking on the world charts. If Australia win today, the seventh game in Mumbai on Wednesday becomes inconsequential.

Indeed, this is an embarrassing situation for India. The bowling has been abysmal and the fielding way below international standards.

Caught! A policeman captures his men and the moment as India coach Gary Kirsten and batsman Suresh Raina have a serious discussion on the eve of their sixth ODI against Australia in Guwahati. pic/Atul Kamble

Follow the master

Sachin Tendulkar (36), now in his 20th year of international cricket, not only sparkled with the bat in Hyderabad where he scored 175. What stood out was his fielding too and if his all-round commitment does not inspire the likes of Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra and Ravindra Jadeja, all fielding culprits in Hyderabad, nothing will.

Tendulkar first dived at third man to stop a definite Shaun Marsh boundary mid-way through the Aussie innings and then capped it off with an astounding catch at sweeper cover to dismiss Cameron White off the innings' last ball.

Dhoni's men seem to have learnt their lesson though. On Saturday, at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the entire team, except for Virender Sehwag, turned up for an optional practice session on the eve of the crucial sixth one-dayer.

"It's very important to be consistent in the field as we have seen that this can prove very costly against a team like Australia," Dhoni said.

Australia middle-order batsman Michael Hussey could not agree more. "Saving 15-20 runs in an international match can be very decisive. We have some fine young athletes in the side and pride ourselves in being one of the best fielding sides in world cricket," said Hussey.

India's lower order has nothing to be proud of from their Hyderabad performance. Interestingly, the tail took to the nets first. Harbhajan Singh and Ravindra Jadeja batted for 20 minutes and knocked the ball in all seriousness.

Full support

Dhoni admitted it was done to help them perform better at the death if a Hyderabad-like situation reappeared.

"We wanted to ensure that the lower order got a bat today. The senior players and the coach are constantly speaking to them to help them cope with the pressures of batting in a crunch situation," the captain said.