On a dry pitch, Ricky Ponting chose to bat in the quarter-final against India in Motera. India received a huge boost ahead of the game with Virender Sehwag ruled fit after missing the game against West Indies with an inflamed knee.
India dropped Yusuf Pathan and retained Suresh Raina. Australia brought in David Hussey, the middle-order batsman who bowls off breaks, for Steven Smith. There was some pre-game talk about playing John Hastings but Australia chose to retain the services of offspinner Jason Krejza.
Ponting said 250 has been a reasonable score on this pitch in the past but said he would wait and watch how the pitch played initially before deciding on the right target.
Dhoni, playing his 100th game as captain, said the team was mentally ready for this knockout game.
India: 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Suresh Raina, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 R Ashwin, 11 Munaf Patel.
Australia: 1 Brad Haddin (wk), 2 Shane Watson, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Clarke, 5 Cameron White, 6 Michael Hussey, 7 David Hussey, 8 Jason Krejza, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Mitchell Johnson, 11 Shaun Tait.
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