Brisbane: Stung by the defeat in the series opener despite putting up a big score, India will have to plug their bowling loopholes when they take on Australia in the second one-dayer in Brisbane on Friday, fully aware that any slip-up will make their task of bouncing back difficult. Chasing an imposing 310, Australia romped home with ease by registering a comfortable five-wicket win to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series at Perth on Tuesday. And at the Gabba on Friday, the visitors would be hoping to make life difficult for Australia but for that to happen Mahendra Singh Dhoni would be expecting a much-improved show from his bowlers.
The five bowlers India played proved to be inadequately short at the WACA, particularly the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who had a bad day in office. For India, there is definitely scope for permutations and combinations among the old names. Lanky pacer Ishant Sharma is fit and available for selection. If Dhoni decides to go in with the same combination which he fielded in Perth, Ishant could come in for Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The WACA wicket was slower than expected, but the Gabba pitch is not expected to be similar which provides Dhoni enough reasons to contemplate going in with four pacers.
But the performance of his spin duo would be a concern for Dhoni going into tomorrow’s match. Both Ashwin and Jadeja were off-colour in the series opener. While the former gave away 68 runs for two wickets from his nine overs, the latter too was expensive costing 61 runs from as many overs without any success. And come Friday it will be interesting to see what kind of impact either Ashwin or Jadeja can make as they will look to shrug off the poor show in the previous game. But consistency is something which Dhoni would look for from bowling attack. To add to it, Dhoni also does not have definitive part-time options to fall back upon. Young left-arm pacer Barinder Sran, who made his debut in the last match, was the eye-catcher for India in the losing cause in Perth.
He picked up three wickets giving away 56 runs and the tall Punjab pacer would be hoping for a repeat performance on Friday.
India’s other two fast bowlers — Bhuvneswar Kumar and Umesh Yadav were not that effective in Perth as both failed to make an impression. While Bhuvneswar was economical Yadav gave away some runs but both failed to trouble the Australian batsmen much. The wicket for Friday’s match should be more to the seamers’ liking, not a green top definitely, but rather one with ample bounce and pace. On the batting front, there isn’t much to complain about for India.
India rode on Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten 171 and vice-captain Virat Kohli’s 91 to post 309 runs on the board, a feat never achieved by an Indian team in three ODIs played previously in Perth. And thus, it can be assumed that the batsmen will be asked to shoulder even more responsibility going ahead. But one of the criticisms emanating from that loss in Perth was that Rohit and Kohli did not do enough to push the scoring rate towards the end. There has been considerable talk about the top-three batsmen trying to do a bit more, in terms of strike-rate, especially if one or two of them get going like in Perth.
But it would be a little harsh to put the blame on the batsmen as Dhoni himself had said that 309 was a defendable score. The Indians, however, would be wary about the form of Australian skipper Steven Smith. Chasing the imposing target, Australia rode on captain Smith’s fluent 149 to script the comfortable win in Perth. Smith turned out to be India’s nemesis again, pacing his innings to perfection. His sequence of scores against the ‘Men In Blue’ across formats now reads: 162 not out, 52 not out, 133, 28, 192, 14, 117, 71, 47, 105, 149. If the Indians were to win the ongoing five-match ODI series in Australia, the visitor’s will have to find a way to dismiss Smith early. George Bailey, another centurion for Australia with a 112-run knock in Perth, too would be hoping to carry on his form.
Bowlers must improve in middle overs: Rohit
Rohit Sharma’s brilliant hundred was certainly one of the positives in India’s five wicket defeat in the first ODI against Australia but one of the worrying factor according to the in-form opener is not picking up wickets in the middle overs. India had Australia down at 21 for two but George Bailey and Steve Smith added 242 runs for the third wicket en route a comfortable win for the hosts. “There were a lot of positives to be taken from that game especially scoring 309.
“Losing is not a positive but we did whatever we could. And also, Australia batted very well,” Rohit said ahead of the second One-Day International at Gabba on Friday. “Our morale is high because we have played good cricket and we know that. Only thing is that we need to learn as to how we can take wickets in the middle overs and how to build the pressure,” the opener was forthright in his assessment of the chinks in the team’s armoury. “If wickets fall in the middle, then it affects the momentum of the opposition team. That is what we need to do this game because we batted well. We bowled well with new ball but were halted in the middle overs because we didn’t take wickets then. And that’s what we have to learn,” Rohit added.
Conditions in Brisbane are expected to be much the same, with the pitch having a bit more pace in it than the one at Perth. Even then, Rohit wouldn’t confirm if the Indian team was contemplating playing four fast bowlers, considering that Ishant Sharma is now fully fit and available. “There are discussions going on (about picking four fast bowlers) but we all have to wait and see what MS (Dhoni) thinks and what he feels is the right combination to go forward with. Here in Brisbane, it will be very similar to what we got in Perth. “I guess there will be a little more bounce. And Perth was on the slower side a little bit, once the shine was taken off the ball. I think here it will be a little more and the fast bowlers will have a little more assistance through a longer period,” he said.
Talking more about his innings in Perth, Rohit said, “With the change in rules that there are five fielders outside the circle in the last 10 overs, I think it’s very important for a set batsman to play as long as possible. “It is easier for a set batsman in the middle to play big shots in the last 10 overs as compared to the new batsmen coming in. It is very important for the batsman who is set and batting well to carry on as long as possible because that is how you can stretch your target and get to a competitive score,” Rohit explained. “So that’s how I have looked at it and it is a good opportunity to get past the hundred. You challenge yourself and ask what else you can do after that. So after getting a hundred, I start another innings, which starts from zero, and scoring another hundred and that’s how I look at it. As a batting group, our aim has always been one batsman batting through as long as possible,” he added.
There was one criticism of his 200-plus runs partnership with Virat Kohli, and that was regarding the strike-rate. However, the batsman highlighted that there are no safe scores in ODI cricket anymore. “When you bat first you actually don’t know what is a defendable score. You get 340 and again it is not a safe score anymore.”
Brisbane match will be high-scoring: Faulkner
Australian all-rounder James Faulkner reckons that the 22-yard strip used at the Gabba for the second ODI against India will also be “flat” but at the same time more “competitive” than the WACA pitch where both teams enjoyed a run-feast. The Australians comfortably ran down India’s 309 for three to win the opening ODI in Perth by five wickets on Tuesday and Faulkner said to expect the same flow of runs at the Gabba on Friday. “Everyone was quite surprised with how the wicket played at Perth. It was obviously very flat and we saw so many runs being scored. I think any time over 300 runs is being scored and chased, it’s definitely a flat wicket,” Faulkner said ahead of the second ODI against India.
“I’m expecting the same sort of scenario here as well. I have not seen an ODI wicket here (in Brisbane) that has not been flat for a fair while. It should have good pace and carry and should be a good contest again,” said Faulkner ahead of the game. Australia fielded an all-pace attach in Perth and are expected to go in with the same bowling combination at Brisbane as well. “It’s a tough gig bowling at Perth and here. Runs can be scored so fast due to the pace on the ball. The pitches don’t really grip as much as the MCG or Canberra, ones that we will come up against later in the tournament. I think everyone got hit the other day, so you can’t really single out any one due to how flat the conditions were,” he said.
“The big change was the overs leading into the Powerplay, with batsmen tending to milk it around and staying, and then using that as a launching pad. That was obviously a dangerous time for any team batting if you lost a wicket before that five over period, it could halt your momentum. Likewise, if you didn’t lose a wicket, it could help them set up a big total.
“I quite like the new rules. It goes back to five in the last 10 overs. It’s still a massive challenge for the bowlers no doubt, but it’s a bit more normal now,” he added. Indian opener Rohit Sharma scored an unbeaten 171 in his team’s innings in Perth, but Steve Smith and George Bailey both scored centuries to get Australia home on a lifeless WACA pitch in the ODI series opener. “Every time you go onto the ground you try to entertain, I don’t think you specifically go out there and think ‘I want to put on a show’, it’s more worrying about what you can do to contribute to the team,” Faulkner said.
