Australia set sights on number one ranking

Mumbai: After receiving a 4-0 drubbing in the Test series earlier this year, Australia are back in India for the one-off Twenty20 and seven match ODI series with a lot at stake. Plenty has happened off the field since for the three-time World champions and a debacle in the Ashes Test series and ICC Champions Trophy 2013 hasn't helped their cause either. But a win against hosts England in the ODI series recently will be a morale booster as the one-time invincible team kicks off the tough Indian tour with a one-off Twenty20 in Rajkot on October 10. The visitor's eyes are however on the top ODI spot currently held by India. “If you look at the tournament, it is not just a tournament but a chance to be number 1 in the world in one of the three formats,“ Australian coach Steve Rixon at inaugural media conference of the team after its arrival here on Saturday night. “So, it is very important to the players, the coaching staff and Cricket Australia. At the end of the day, we want to sit back and want to be part of the number one side,“ he added. Australia has enjoyed good ODI record in India in the recent past. They won 4-2 on two previous occasions before losing 0-1 in the rain-affected series in 2010-11. But skipper George Bailey didn't read too much into it as the team comt position and conditions was different that time. “I find it hard to compare because the conditions change. A lot of things are variable. The s game has changed. We have got guys playing T20 on a regular r basis now. Back then it wasn't so prevalent. We have got guys who i can turn the game with five overs to go in a 50-over match. The whole contest is a little bit different now,“ he said. Australia had plenty of experience available during their ODI series triumphs but this time they will have to do it with an inexperienced side without regular skipper Michael Clarke who is nursing a back injury. “The inexperience is one of our learning curves at the moment. We have to get past that. It is probably our weakness, however, it is also our strength. Youthful exuberance often can be very good when it comes to the final crunches,“ said Rixon while admitting Clarke will be missed. “You take Dhoni out, that probably answers your question. George is relatively new at the captaincy but he has been around for some time. We are very confident about the job that George does. He has done it with distinction in Twenty20 and he gets his opportunity with the one day competition now,“ Rixon said. Five Australian players are part of the ODI squad who played in the Champions League final on Sunday so conditions won't be alien to them. Those five players Shane Watson, James Faulkner, Mitchell Johnson, Glenn Maxwell and Nathan Coulter-Nile didn't participate in the practice session at Brabourne stadium here on Monday morning and are expected to join the team on Monday night. “Most of the guys have been playing a little bit of cricket whether it is here or at home. The season has just started at home. Guys have just come off the English tour, Champions League, as far as match readiness goes, we should be good,“ said Rixon while reacting to a question whether they would liked have to play a warm-up game. WE DON'T HAVE SUPERSTARS Australian team hasn't indulged in pre-series talk ing and making predictions like the ones when they had stars like Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne in their team. Current Australian skipper Geogre Bailey acknowledged his team did not have superstars like the two all-time greats to impose themselves and increase pressure on the opponents. “We are very polite. I certainly think for Glenn and Shane, it was a way to challenge themselves. That was the way they got themselves fired up for the series. I think this group doesn't need to do that. We have got enough challenges. We probably don't have the superstar' of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. We don't rely heavily on any one or two players,“ Bailey said. “If we are going to play good one-day cricket and if we are going to win this series, we need all 13 or 14 of us playing really well. And that is probably one of the major differences to that series that we won previously. It is going to be a well-rounded effort, if we are going to win,“ he added.