India will once again focus on KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja in the second ODI against Australia in Visakhapatnam on Sunday, with regular skipper Rohit Sharma taking charge after missing the opening match in Mumbai.
India defeated Australia by five wickets in a low-scoring game at the Wankhede Stadium, in which Rahul, who had struggled to find form during the Border-Gavaskar series that saw him dropped for the third and fourth Tests, In which he scored 75 not out. The hosts took over the house.
Jadeja, who was playing ODI cricket after nearly eight months after a knee injury and subsequent surgery, scored an unbeaten 45 in the chase of 188 on Friday. He also bowled tightly and was declared player of the match, returning figures of 2/46.
With the ODI World Cup being hosted by India later this year, an in-form Rahul and a fully fit Jadeja will be an asset, and the three-match series will help the selectors assess the progress of the pair.
India will look to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series before Rahul and Jadeja come together and also look to make amends with the bat. crease to guide the hosts to victory with 61 balls to spare.
Rohit Sharma’s return to captaincy duties will certainly strengthen the top-order, which crumbled due to the pace and variations of Australian pacer Mitchell Starc. The left-arm pacer’s three-wicket haul with Virat Kohli (4), Suryakumar Yadav (0) and Shubman Gill (20) followed by an early dent by Marcus Stoinis put India under immense pressure. Ishan Kishan was dismissed for three runs.
Indian batsmen have occasionally looked tentative against quality left-arm pacers, and facing Starc in the remaining two matches should give them good practice in home conditions, to prepare for the World Cup in October-November. efforts should be focused. With Sharma opening, Kishan is likely to make way for the regular captain.
While Kohli and Gill’s poor scores in the first ODI shouldn’t be given much weightage, Suryakumar Yadav not finding his mojo in the 50-over format is a cause for concern.
A marauder with the bat in T20Is, Suryakumar is apparently still finding his feet in ODIs. He has not been able to score a half-century in all the five ODIs this year. Surya has now played 15 ODIs (13 innings) without scoring more than 50. However, with no timeline set for Shreyas Iyer’s return, India will continue to audition Suryakumar for the No.4 role.
India’s bowling put up a stellar performance on the pace-friendly Wankhede pitch in Mumbai with pacers Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj. But wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav could not leave a special impression.
However, the team management is not expected to tinker with the bowling line-up, with Pandya playing the third pacer role to perfection in Mumbai. The weather forecast for the second ODI is for scattered thunderstorms at least in the first half, which also means that fast bowlers from both sides can swing the ball if the winds pick up.
Australia would like to try different combinations during the series. On Friday, they went in with four all-rounders – Mitchell Marsh, Cameron Green, Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell – and still could not trouble India much, which will be a worry for skipper Steve Smith.
As a makeshift opener in the absence of David Warner, Marsh made a quickfire 81 off 65 balls, but Australia lost way in the middle overs, going from 129/2 to 188 all out against quality pace in Mumbai. Got out The visitors, despite having a strong batting line-up, lost six wickets for a modest 19 runs, which they would like to work on.
Smith and Marnus Labuschagne may face ‘difficult’ pitches in the Test series, but wickets for ODIs in India generally favor batsmen, and both Australians will be expected to do more.
Smith has not been able to cross the 50-run mark so far on this India tour. For anyone who has a mountain of runs against India, the Australian stand-in captain will look to end the drought.
Australia’s pace bowling looked excellent in Mumbai, with Sean Abbott keeping the Indians under cover with tight lines and Green and Stoinis hitting boundaries too.
squads
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik, Shardul Thakur, Akshar Patel, Jaydev Unadkat.
Australia: David Warner, Travis Head, Steven Smith (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa. Match Time: 1.30 PM IST.