Dynamic allrounder Glenn Maxwell believes the key to taking a 3-1 lead in their one-day series with India is to silence the Ranchi crowd.
The benefits of doing that would be twofold, because he knows the only way to send the crowd into shocked silence is to dismiss their favourite son.
Ranchi is MS Dhoni’s hometown, and getting the powerful Indian captain out cheaply would give Australia an enormous boost.
“It’s going to be very loud,” Maxwell said on Monday.
“They’re going to love it when MS comes out and tries to do his thing again.
“Hopefully we can shut that down and keep the crowd as quiet as possible.”
Dhoni sent the Mohali crowd into raptures with an exhilarating 139no, which included six sixes.
Maxwell said, while a brilliant innings, Australia felt they’d let some opportunities slip which contributed to the masterclass.
The plans won’t change for game four on Wednesday, but hopefully the outcome will.
“I think we had pretty good plans to him last game,” he said.
“A couple of things didn’t quite go to plan.
“I think we dropped a catch, one ball that just cleared mid-off.
“If we take those chances I think we’re chasing 260-270 and we finish that game a lot earlier.
“I felt like our plans were very good. We shut him down early.
“We made him face a lot of dot balls at the start of the innings.”
Maxwell pointed to the opening ODI in Pune where Dhoni, when joining the game at a similar point, was tied down and unable to produce his helicopter heroics in the final overs.
“He didn’t quite do it in that game, I think that’s perfect for us,” he said.
“We need to put that dot ball pressure on him and hopefully shut him down early on.”