Aus v Ind 4th ODI Preview: Visitors look to salvage pride after series loss

India has a lot of work to do before the World T20. The manner in which the first 3 ODIs were lost could have been a major cause of concern for most top international sides, however, India’s team director, Ravi Shastri has thrown his weight behind his batsmen and has asked the bowlers to learn their lessons. As for the home team, their superiority was confirmed in Melbourne however Steven Smith reckons there is still room for improvement.

Australia:

For the Aussies, not much is likely to change in terms of strategy for the opposition or the conditions. Canberra’s Manuka Oval is an even bigger playing surface, which leaves no place to hide for weaker throwing arms. It is a batting paradise and should produce another high-scoring game. Australia’s winning streak at home now stands at a world-record 17 but they will want to improve on the fact that they have taken a total of five wickets in the first 30 overs of the three matches. The team will not consider the match a dead-rubber particularly since the opposition happens to be India. The two teams have had a rivalry of sorts that makes every game important. The appeal of a whitewash against India will keep the home side interested.

Glenn Maxwell’s batting heroics at the MCG deserves all the credit however his bowling in the series hasn’t been bad either. He has an economy rate of 5.61 India will feel gutted to have let him bowl eight overs for no serious damage, which takes pressure off Smith should one of his main bowlers have an off day. While David Warner had been away on paternity leave, Shaun Marsh scored two fifties, but he knows well Australia don’t go sentimental over these things when it comes to selections. It will be interesting to see if they give Nathan Lyon a game, keeping in mind they have picked him for the Twenty20s.

India:

The Indian attack is far more experienced, but a mix of conditions and poor bowling has let them down. With the series lost and expectation reduced, Shastri said he wanted the bowlers to show him they had learned their lesson. The best economy rate for India unsurprisingly belongs to Ravindra Jadeja, who came into his own on a slightly slower and drier surface at the MCG. Axar Patel might have felt a little hard done by when Jadeja came right back into the ODI team based on Test form while he kept winning one-day matches for Gujarat single-handedly.

With the series gone now, perhaps India can try both of them in the same game; it doesn’t really make sense naming two players in a squad when you are never going to play them together. There is no pressure of expectations hence India can try different combinations. It won’t be a bad idea for the batsmen to start that final push early without worrying about the weak lower middle order. India can tinker with their combination. If it comes off, who knows what wonders it can do.

Form guide: (last five completed games, most recent first)

Australia: WWWWL

India: LLLLW

Australia (probable): 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Steven Smith (capt.), 4 George Bailey, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 James Faulkner, 9, John Hastings, 10 Kane Richardson, 11 Nathan Lyon/Scott Boland

India (probable): 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Ajinkya Rahane, 5 Manish Pandey/Gurkeerat Mann, 6 MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin/Rishi Dhawan, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 Umesh Yadav/Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Barinder Sran/Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Stats:

1. India last beat Australia in Australia in an international game back in February 2012. Since then they have lost nine matches and drawn two.

2. Virat Kohli’s average against Australia in Australia was 15..81 before this series began. It has now risen up to 40.22.