Sydney, Mar 22 (ANI): Ahead of their quarterfinal clash against India, Australian coach Tim Nielsen has said that most of the pressure would be on India rather than on his team.
If Australia fails at Ahmedabad on Thursday, its designs on a fourth consecutive cup will be officially dashed.
"It's exciting ... a mini grand final in itself. If you came here and thought, 'What would be the best result? It would be great to make the final against India'. Well, we've got our final against India in the next few days. I'm sure if we're on our game, they won't necessarily be looking forward to playing against us. That's something in our favour," said Nielsen.
On Sunday, India's middle- and lower-order batsmen collapsed for the second successive match, losing their last seven wickets for just 50 runs against the West Indies.
Nielsen said Australia did not want to force India into a similar situation, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Considering India made 267 before the collapse began against South Africa and 218 before the collapse against the West Indies, he said the bigger focus was on denying India's formidable top-order such a fruitful start.
"The importance of a quarter-final and the stature of a match will mean they [India's batsmen] are switched on. But if we can make some early inroads into their batting - [Virender] Sehwag, [Sachin] Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, [Gautam] Gambhir have played really well for them - we'd like to think that would be a benefit for us."
The Australians are also seeking to highlight the awful record for the hosts in World Cups.
"It's a huge factor for them. It's no different to 1992 when Australia played a World Cup at home. There's some pressure there and if we can start the game well and maybe quieten the crowd that will play on the mind of the Indian team," Nielsen said. (ANI)
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