Cuttack:
With rain reducing the bilateral series to a five-match affair and India trailing, Australian opener Aaron Finch feels that the pressure will be on the home side to win the remaining two one-dayers.
"India have to win two to clinch the series, we have to win one to win the series. So that's a position we obviously are happy being. It's a case of two games to go. It's like a mini-final series. It's definitely positive being 2-1 up, better than being 1-2 down. We can't control the weather," Finch told reporters after the match between the two sides was called off due to wet outfield without a single ball being bowled, here today.
This was a second successive wash out in the series after Ranchi where the match was called off with India on 27 for no loss in 4.1 overs, chasing Australia's 296.
The destructive opener said Australia will seek to clinch the series by taking an unassailable 3-1 lead in the sixth match in Nagpur.
"We've still two games left. We're very confident that we're playing good cricket at the moment and I'm sure India as well. They were in a good position the other night (in Ranchi) when the game was called off unfortunately."
Such wash-outs mean the days are long for the team members as Finch said: "Yesterday we had a big table tennis tournament as a squad. It was just a bit of fun. There is not a lot you can do around the hotel, with a pool table, a table tennis table."
"A lot of coffee was drunk. They are quite long days, and very boring days sometimes when you're sitting around not knowing what's happening the following day, whether you're going to play or not, whether it's going to be a short game. So it's just very boring, really."
High scoring totals have been the norm of the series and Finch attributed it to the batsmen-friendly new rules.
"I think one-day cricket has become very entertaining now. There was probably a chance that Twenty20 could overtake it as the entertaining game, so to speak. But I think the way the game has changed now. The new rules have made it extremely exciting," he said.
"The scores that we are seeing all around the world now are exceptional. 300 is almost becoming a par score. We'll get to the point where 400 will be chased, I mean India chased 360 in 44 overs or something against us. We're seeing teams get 120-130 off the last 10 overs consistently and that's phenomenal. That just goes on to show how much the game has changed over the last 20 years.
"In the years gone by when there was only one new ball, there was a bit more reverse swing. The ball was softer, and so it was harder to hit a six. So I think the game has definitely changed in the favour of the batsmen now, no doubts. As a batsman, I think it's a great rule," he said.
But, the new rules at the same time, had made the bowlers smarter, Finch added.
"Bowlers have become unbelievably skilled over the last few years, to be able to keep adapting with the times. Changing and improving all the times, trying to stay ahead of the batsmen."
Asked whether they had any special training to practice big hitting shots, Finch said it's about trying to get a feel of the ground.
"We go out there and try and hit a few sixes and just get a feel for how far you're hitting the ball. It's something we do a fair bit of now, just to practice hitting them over the fence. We obviously have our main net session where we just work on our technique and a bit of bat versus ball kind of stuff, but the six-hitting is a fun bit. It makes you feel good at the end of a session."
The Aussies had some indoor training after arriving here in the afternoon, even as the Team India members did not travel to the stadium.
