Australia vs India, 2nd ODI, Preview: Aaron Finch & Co eye maiden ODI series win in 2 years

The Australian team last won an ODI series in early 2017.

Published - 14 Jan 2019, 17:33 IST | Updated - 14 Jan 2019, 17:33 IST

4 Min Read

Jason Behrendorff, Australia, India, T20I

Things didn’t pan out as per the plans for Team India in the opener of the three-match ODI series. Australia executed their plans better and defeated the visitors by 34 runs. Except for Rohit Sharma, no one else stood up to the challenge and played out of their skin.

In the light of the World Cup 2019, the previous game was indeed a wake-up call for the number two ODI team. It showed how much the team was reliant on the top three batsmen. The middle-order didn’t have enough gas to challenge the opposition which seems to be a huge problem. Also, the death over bowling wasn’t quite satisfactory as they conceded 93 runs in the last 10 overs.

There are still twelve games left ahead of the mega-tournament to set things right. For Australia, they’d feel they ticked most of the boxes. It was a thorough performance from the entire team and they’ll hope to carry the momentum forward. However, they’ll also be wary of the huge threat from India and will have to be on the top of their game. Strike rotation and building big partnerships in the middle-overs is something they’d want to improve upon.

Team Combinations

Australia

Australia had the plans of playing two all-rounders (Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis), two spinners (Adam Zampa and Nathan Lyon) and one frontline fast bowler for the first ODI. However, the injuries and the illnesses turned out to be blessing in disguise for the team. The combination that they played in the last game just seemed to be perfect.

Before the second game of the series, they could bring in Adam Zampa in place of Lyon. The pace attack is highly likely to remain the same. However, Billy Stanlake cannot be ruled out of contention completely and the management will have a close look at him. Aaron Finch’s form with the bat is the biggest concern for the home team heading into this game. The vice-captain Mitchell Marsh, who is fit, might have to warm the bench again as there doesn’t seem to be any space available for him in the XI.

Predicted XI: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey (wk) Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Adam Zampa, Peter Siddle, Jhye Richardson, Jason Behrendorff.

India

India will be looking at one change ahead of the second ODI. Instead of Khaleel Ahmed, they will want to rope in an in-form Mohammed Siraj. Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli were unfortunate in the last game to miss out and should bounce back. MS Dhoni is expected to continue at number five while Ravindra Jadeja will retain the all-rounder’s spot.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and the other bowlers practised hard trying to nail the yorkers during the net session. The management will hope they do put up a better performance at the death. Kuldeep Yadav is most likely to get a go, ahead of Yuzvendra Chahal, again.

Also read- Bhuvneshwar Kumar unveils a new drill to bowl yorkers ahead of Adelaide clash

Predicted XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (C), Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Siraj/Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Shami.

Focus will be on

Peter Handscomb (Australia)

Despite his numerous troubles against the red-ball, Peter Handscomb is a terrific limited-overs player. He is a clean hitter of the ball and there are absolutely no second thoughts when he decides to clear the fence. With 73 off 61 balls, he looked great in the series opener. Handscomb is a good runner between the wickets and should aim to stay in the middle right till the end to give his team a great flourish to finish things off.

Virat Kohli (India)

After a gap of 482 days, Virat Kohli got out for a single-digit score in ODI cricket. The Indian skipper has set the standards for himself so high that even a good Test series somewhat seemed mediocre. Kohli usually gets fully pumped up in the next game if he has a poor outing. Hence, the fans have bigger expectations and will be hoping for another one of those special centuries from the master.