There is a significant change in the demeanour, body language and general attitude that is very palpable and on the surface of the Indian side as they go into the T20 game against Australia. It is much like that of a student who has just gotten past a tough, testing paper and is now moving on to the next paper in which he is more comfortable and has generally seen more success. The turning of the page and putting the unsuccesful ODI chapter behind (in the mind, atleast) doesn't seem to have been too difficult.

The T20 format will play a little more to India's strengths, which is concentrated aggression rather than sustained levels of performance. The crux of the batting line up - Uthappa, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Dhoni - are better at producing moments and streaks of brilliance as against longish stretches of consistent play. Australia, of course, are capable of producing both.

The Australians have a slightly higher average strike rate (132) than the Indians (129). However, a key point is that the strike rates of the Indian batsmen are heavily polarized, which means that at any point, any of the top 4 batsmen are capable of producing an extraordinary knock. The flip side of this is, of course, also that these batsmen are equally given to failing to fire.

The Brabourne stadium hasn't seen too much international cricket of late, and the evidence in the Champions Trophy played here last year suggests that despite the format, the game may not necessarily be full of runs. Given that, and the fact that slow bowlers have generally tended to have a better impact in T20, Kartik and Harbhajan will have key roles to play, and much of India's performance could depend on whether or not they click tonight.

Without the cauldron of a World Cup around them, both teams are likely to take this game more lightly, especially the Indians given that they are the champions, and it is Australia who have wounds to avenge. Whether taking the game lightly and playing freely will translate into being complacent will determine how strong a finish this Australian tour will get.

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