MOHALI: The Australian bowlers must be heaving a sigh of relief ahead of the third ODI here, given that the pitch here at the PCA Stadium is unlikely to be as much of a belter as the one in Jaipur. Whether the Australians can recover from the pasting they got at the hands of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan is the big question, though, and Oz skipper George Bailey, for one, seemed delighted the pitch would have some life in it.

“It looks like it’s got a little bit more grass on it. Whether that comes off, I am not sure about that. There is a little bit more life than the Jaipur wicket,” the skipper said.

However, pitch curator Daljit Singh maintained that the game would see an even contest between bat and ball. “The Mohali pitch is known to be fair to both bowlers and batsmen. It’s not a 350 kind of wicket. A score of 270 to 280 will be a match-winning one, keeping in mind the help fast bowlers get during the evening,” Daljit said.

While Australia think about how to recover from the loss in Jaipur, India have troubles on the bowling front. “Our batting is looking good, but it’s unfair to assume the batsmen are going to chase a 300-plus target every time,” Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had said after the second ODI in Jaipur.

In the first one-dayer in Pune, India’s bowlers leaked 304, while in the next game the Aussie batsmen managed to put up a total in excess of 350. While India, on the back of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, did chase down the massive target in Jaipur, the performance of the bowlers doesn’t give Dhoni much confidence ahead of the third ODI.

“We need to improve in bowling. The reason is that if you attempt a yorker and it becomes a low full toss, it’s fine, but if it becomes a waist-high full toss, then the margin is too much. It’s one area we are looking to improve,” Dhoni had said.

At the pre-match nets the fast bowlers in the squad – Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Shami and Vinay Kumar – were seen practicing yorkers. Dhoni himself was the batsman at the other end. On occasions the bowlers did miss their length and the result was a big hit by the skipper.

MSD was then seen talking animatedly to the five pacers at the end of the practice session. Saurashtra pacer Jaydev Unadkat had an extended session, bowling to the Indian top-order and the skipper, giving indications that he might be drafted into the playing XI. If Unadkat is given a chance to prove his mettle then either Ishant Sharma or Vinay Kumar will have to sit out. Ravichandran Ashwin, despite his poor performance in the solitary T20 and the first two ODIs, probably will feature in the first eleven as there were no signs of leggie Amit Mishra being given a choice.