MUMBAI: On Sunday, India batting coach Vikram Rathour had said that both KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan being in striking form ahead of their three-ODI series against Australia was a “good dilemma” to have. A day later, captain Virat Kohli hinted that there may not be a quandary after all.
“All guys in form is always a good thing for the team,” said Kohli in Mumbai on Monday, ahead of the first ODI on Tuesday. “You want to have the best players available and then choose. We’ll figure out what combination we want to go in with. There’s a possibility all three might play.”
If India do choose to go in with all three, there may be the chance of the skipper himself slotting into the much-debated No 4 role. “I’m not possessive about where I play. I’m not insecure about where I bat. A lot of other people might not look at it that way, but your job as captain is to not only look after the team, but also to prepare one that you can pass on to someone else.”
In their last match — the third T20I against Sri Lanka last Friday — Dhawan announced his return to form with 52 off 36. Rahul made 54 off 36 in that match.
Having gotten a long rope courtesy injuries, the Karnataka batsman had played a major role when West Indies had come to India. That included a game-changing 91 during the T20I series decider in Mumbai. Rahul is likely to carry that confidence on to Wankhede come Tuesday. The pitch typically has something for pacers early on. Despite it officially being winter, dew may still come into play later.
On the eve of the series, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting had predicted that the visitors would win the series 2-1. The side had shown great gumption to win the five-ODI series in India last year 3-2, after losing the first two games.
Now, Australia are coming off a very successful summer at home — Test series wins over Pakistan and New Zealand. India too have excelled on home soil during that period.
Australia will bank on established batsmen like David Warner and Steve Smith to lead the assault. But they also have youngsters like Peter Handscomb and Ashton Turner, who had excelled when they’d come here last year. They also have the uncapped Marnus Labuschagne, who has been in blistering form with the red ball.
That apart, a top-heavy India line-up is likely to face the pace troika of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. But Australia’s batsmen will have to contend with the wrist-spin wiles of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. They will also have to go up against Jasprit Bumrah, who will ostensibly be playing his first ODI since the World Cup semifinal.
“Part of the recipe for success we had here last time was being able to come up with the solution to combat the Indian spinners,” said Turner. “No doubt their spinners will bowl a lot of overs through the middle overs. Many times, that’s where the game is won or lost.”
Yellow Signal
The first of the three ODIs between India and Australia will happen in Mumbai today. A look at what to expect from the series...
Oz you like it
They beat India here last year, and they’re coming back armed to their teeth. David Warner, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, and a re-banding of their vaunted Test pacers Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc. Expect the visitors to make a good fist of things in the coming days.
What lies beneath
India’s lower-order muscle hasn’t really been flexing, that spurt of pyrotechnics against West Indies notwithstanding. Without Hardik Pandya in the mix, Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav and Shivam Dube will need to make the most of this round of power-hitter auditions.
Sonic Boom
He started hitting his stride against Lanka, and now he has the perfect opposition to get his radar beeping again. Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur made life easy for him against Lanka, but the onus will still be on Jasprit Bumrah to ace three tests against a lethal Oz batting line-up.