India v Australia 2017, 2nd ODI- India Predicted XI

Team India quite obviously started favourite in the five-match ODI series against Australia, there is a sense of competitiveness heading into the second ODI in Kolkata. The visitors will be hoping for an electrifying performance, from the team which is seeking a new dawn. However, the Bay of Bengal has brought a fresh batch of September rain, which will be a force to reckon with as well during the course of the game, like it has been in the last couple of days. Also, It’s time for Pujo in Kolkata which means, festivities seem to extend off the field as well.

The hosts, whose tryst with batting experiment almost blew up in their faces, will be looking to shrug aside their struggles of the first ODI and approach the second game like they have been doing from last year and a half. However, Hardik Pandya represented a venerable tradition and MS Dhoni like he is always was street smart.

Indian team is currently in a dream phase and have won their last seven games in this format. But Australia isn’t one of those visitors who will accept a defeat and are demoralized they will look to stretch an extra foot and make every match count. As we head into second ODI, let us look at Predicted XI for Team India.

Openers (Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma)

It is unlikely that the Indian team will tinker with their opening combination. Even though the duo hasn’t been a successful pair together, Rahane is most likely to open alongside India’s vice-captain, Rohit Sharma.

The backup opener wasn’t able to get going in the opening match, his recent form will help to provide stability at the top. Rahane’s role is to anchor the innings and rotate the strike so that the other batsman can play freely. He may not have the ability to start the innings with the big shots, but he has his own formulas to maintain a healthy strike rate.

Rohit has been in fine touch as he smacked two back to back hundreds against the Lankans. He will look to continue his good run and repeat his 2013 performance against Australia at the same venue.

Middle Order (Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav)

The experience of 195 matches makes this man the pillar of the Indian batting lineup. Virat is a brilliant striker of the cricket ball and has the ability to perform under pressure. His strength has been to not allow the bowlers to dictate their terms. Virat with a few failures of late needs to be wary of the threat faster bowlers pose to him early in the innings, as he has the tremendous ability to play all the shots in the book once he gets his eye in.

Manish Pandey has been able to prove his stature at this level and there is no way he will be left out in the second game. Given the form, he is in, he will want to understand the need of the hour and bat accordingly as he is a versatile batter and has the ability to switch gears at will. He bagged a rare duck in the last match and will want to make amends.

The master, MS Dhoni played a magnificent knock in the first ODI to ensure the team a winning total of 281 runs in 50 overs. A fighter in a true sense, MS is the key player for this Indian team as the middle and lower order revolves around him and if he is there to guide them the likes of Pandya and Jadhav can hit the big shots. Kedar’s position will be shuffled based on the match situation and the skill he has shown thus far in his international career is pretty much up for any challenge thrown at him and will come hard at the Aussies having failed to convert a start in the previous game.

All-rounder (Hardik Pandya)

At the age of 23, it won’t be wrong to say that with Hardik Pandya has developed a sense of responsibility. His growing stature has helped him get out of tough situations. He is definitely expected to be the fulcrum of the side. In last game, Pandya scored 83 runs off just 66 balls at an astonishing strike-rate of 125.76 which was laced with 10 boundaries. He is not only a dangerous batsman lower down the order but a useful medium pacer as he dismissed Steve Smith and Travis Head in the opening game.

Bowlers (Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah)

Team Australia hasn’t been the most comfortable side against spin bowling and wrist spin in particular. Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have been able to trouble the opposition with their respective variations as the visitors were unable to read them and the new Indian spin-twin will look to repeat it in Kolkata.

Jasprit Bumrah has been India’s go-to bowler in limited-overs cricket and has impressed every time he takes the field. He knows his strengths and that is the opposition batsmen’s weakness which makes him Indian team’s trump card with the ball. On the other hand, there is Bhuvneshwar Kumar who has not only done the job for the team with the ball but has evolved as a lower order batter having played two crucial knocks in the last one month stitching invaluable partnerships with Dhoni on both occasions.