When an embattled Virat Kohli and his partner in numerous battles on the field, Rohit Sharma, play what may be their final match on Australian soil in the third ODI on Saturday in Sydney, the emotional quotient will be at an all-time high, with many tearful eyes anticipated.
While Kohli’s back-to-back ducks, his first in international cricket, have undoubtedly caused his ardent supporters to wonder if this is the beginning of the end, Rohit Sharma has deservedly earned some breathing room with a valiant 73 off 97 balls, albeit in a lost cause.
While Rohit made his first trip to Australia for the CB Series in 2007–08, Kohli took his maiden tour with the senior team during the 2011–12 season and made an immediate impression at Adelaide with a Test century.
Given that there won’t be any ODI series in Australia for the next two years, it is improbable that the duo would perform in India blues once more Down Under.
It is uncertain whether Kohli in particular will play after the Australia series, but the third and final ODI at the iconic SCG will be more than just a “dead rubber.”
But at SCG, the fans would like to see the batting great’s inside-out lofted shot over extra cover, some on-drives, and those punchy cover drives come out of the closet.
Even though the ODI World Cup is still two years away, the Gautam Gambhir-coached Indian squad is trying to avoid a 0–3 thumping, which will not look good.
Even worse, the ‘Men in Blue’ have only triumphed once in the last five ODIs against Australia and India at the SCG.
Gambhir will anticipate that both captain Shubman Gill and Kohli will perform well in the last match because they are both due for a big innings.
A battered Indian team that has been outplayed in the last two games will be eager to go back to their pattern of bolstering the batting at the expense of sacrificing bowling resources. This is especially true when it comes to ignoring a true match-winner like Kuldeep Yadav, who could have been a real threat at the Adelaide Oval when the Australian batsmen found it difficult to read Axar Patel and Washington Sundar.
Although the majority of the current Indian team is on the verge of being bits-and-pieces players, the team has been optimistic about fielding multi-skilled cricketers.
A player like Nitish Kumar Reddy is still underutilized at number eight in the batting order, and his medium-pace bowling in the 120s hasn’t had much of an impact on regular international-caliber batters.
The significant slowdown in Harshit Rana’s second and third spells explains why he isn’t yet prepared for international cricket. Only after years of arduous work in red-ball cricket, bowling in various match circumstances and under various conditions, can one return to bowl second and third spells with the same intensity.
It is imperative that Prasidh Krishna be included in the starting lineup.
The only positives from the first two games are that spin all-rounder Axar Patel has become a better batter, and that he has been bowling solid overs. It would be necessary for India to recall Ravindra Jadeja in 50-over cricket if Axar continues to play like this.
The Australian team has begun their two-year road to the upcoming ODI World Cup with a strong start.
When it comes to preparation and execution under mild pressure, players like Matthew Short, Mitchell Owen, and Cooper Connolly have shown excellent technique and a great deal of cricketing intelligence.
Adam Zampa and leg-spinner Matt Kuhnemann, who dominated India in the rain-shortened first game, may be included in the starting lineup.
The hosts would like their opener Travis Head to play one of his signature innings that he failed to do in the first two games, so this bodes well for them.
Squads:
India: Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicket-keeper), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Dhruv Jurel (wicket-keeper), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna
Australia: Mitchell Marsh (Captain), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey (wicket-keeper), Jos Inglis (wicket-keeper), Cooper Connolly, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Jack Edwards, Mitchell Owen, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Matthew Short, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Matt Kuhnemann
