Australia skipper George Bailey confident of good showing ahead of Nagpur ODI

With pressure squarely on India to stay alive in the seven-match ODI series, Australian skipper George Bailey on Tuesday looked relaxed as he said that the visitors were going into the penultimate game in Nagpur high on confidence.

Australia are currently leading 2-1 and needed just one more victory to clinch the series, while India will have to win both their remaining games.

"We are very happy to be 2-1 up. We have played some very good cricket. We look forward to tomorrow's game. The three (finished) games have been outstanding. We are finding a lot of confidence at the moment. That stems from the way the tour has gone so far," Bailey said at the pre-match press conference here.

"I am quite happy most of the time. I am enjoying the tour. We are playing some good cricket," he added.

The ever-smiling Bailey has led from the front, having amassed 318 runs in the four innings he has batted so far in the best-of-seven rubber at a very impressive 100-plus average.

Bailey, who has looked extremely dominant against the Indian spinners, especially Ravichandran Ashwin, in the series, applauded his team's batting.

"We have been pretty consistent with our batting and probably most important is, we are clear about our roles over the last 6-7 games (going back to series v England)," said Bailey, who has been his side's highest scorer by a long distance with 98 as his best effort so far.

Australia has amassed 300-plus totals in three matches and a solid 295 in the rained-off fourth ODI at Ranchi.

When reminded that the Australian batting line up had come a cropper in the four-Test series earlier this year against Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who grabbed 29 and 24 wickets, respectively, Bailey said the tracks prepared for the Tests were different.

"From what I have seen, it looks like the pitches have been very different to the ones during the Test matches though I was not part of that team (led by Michael Clarke which was whitewashed by India 4-0)," he said.

The 31-year-old Bailey, who is averaging over 53 after 33 ODI appearances but is yet to figure in a Test for Australia, said when the squad was doing well there was no need to make many changes in the playing eleven.

"You will not have the opportunity to do it every time (sticking to same team). It's no surprise to pick players who have been doing well and not make many changes," he said.

Bailey sympathised with the bowlers who have been finding it difficult to bowl in the later stages of the innings due to the change in the ODI rule forcing an extra fielder inside the inner ring as compared to the earlier one.

"The way the rules are, they are certainly challenging for the bowlers. They have to keep a plan every time they are bowling and still some balls will travel the distance. That's the nature of the game.

"The challenge is to be consistent with their approach mentally, make sure they have a plan and execute it to the best of their ability," Bailey explained.