Earlier this month, India retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after the final Test culminated in a colorless draw on the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. It was a sequence that oscillated between a Test of fewer than three days to a Test that, in a parallel world, would have continued for greater than per week. So, the shift from the much-discussed, much-abused Test pitches and peering into the way forward for the “five-day” format to limited-overs cricket has been a welcome one.
Ahead of the sequence decider on the refurbished M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, to be performed on Wednesday, the three-match One-Day International (ODI) sequence is locked at 1-1 and has lived as much as the vaunts that these video games have been a barely extra thorough examination of the general high quality of the 2 sides than the previous red-ball face-offs.
India secured a five-wicket win over Australia within the series-opening conflict in Mumbai earlier than Mitchell Starc ripped by way of India’s high order with 5 wickets to put the platform for a crushing 10-wicket Australia win in Visakhapatnam.
Starc’s new-ball swing has been pivotal to the Aussie problem within the white-ball leg. He is now stage with Brett Lee because the Australian with essentially the most five-fors in ODI cricket after consigning India to its heaviest defeat by way of balls remaining.
There can also be a silver lining to Australia’s batting, with Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head exhibiting that batting is easy when the ball has softened, and the fields have gone defensive.
While Marsh has been a revelation as an opener — 147 runs in two ODIs — it will likely be fascinating to see what occurs when David Warner comes again for the decider. Warner batted within the nets briefly on match eve however there’s no official phrase on his availability for the third ODI. Meanwhile, Travis Head’s proclivity for giant scores up high would imply his place because the second opener is safe for now.
India’s batting complications might throw up a couple of World Cup quandaries. One of essentially the most vexing points has been the efficiency of the top-order on this sequence. Shubman Gill has scores of 20 and 0 to this point and doesn’t appear like somebody, who, till earlier than this sequence, couldn’t cease himself from scoring runs – Gill’s Test hundred in Ahmedabad coming shut on the heels of his three ODI centuries to this point this 12 months, together with a double, and a 126 not out in a T20I.
Rohit and Kohli threw away begins within the second ODI whereas the middle-order, besides KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja, lacked the urge for food for a struggle. This Indian batting order could have star high quality, however within the final two video games, it has exuded vulnerability; name it struggling competitiveness fairly than absolute dominance if you’ll. Their weak point in opposition to left-arm tempo has additionally been laid naked by Starc, whose menace might double if Chepauk sports activities a greenish tinge come match day. Muggy situations within the metropolis look like ideally suited for swing and seam bowling too. It has been raining in Chennai within the evenings for the previous couple of days, however the climate is predicted to carry on Wednesday.
India’s tempo bowling appears settled, with Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj working with tempo, accuracy, and menace with the brand new ball. Siraj’s capacity to combine seam-up deliveries with wobble-seam ones has added one other dimension to his bowling. But it’s how they function as soon as the ball grows outdated and the batters hit by way of the road that might determine how a lot Indian batters chase.
Although the pacers have held sway to this point, count on the Chennai situations to encourage flip. India could persist with three spinners whereas Australia might take into account Ashton Agar.
The final time India performed an ODI in Chennai (2019), it misplaced to the West Indies by eight wickets in a high-scoring sport on a pitch that stored getting faster because the match progressed. Thirteen of the 22 ODIs in Chennai have been received by sides batting first however West Indies received that match chasing. Australia final performed right here in 2017 but it surely was a rain-curtailed sport.
If Steve Smith’s males handle to win on Wednesday, it will likely be a becoming method to bookend a tour that began on a bitter word for the vacationer in Nagpur and New Delhi however has been on an upward trajectory ever since.
Source web site: sportstar.thehindu.com
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