IND vs AUS 3rd ODI: Playing left-arm inswing India’s biggest concern; Australia using their options intelligently

After a fine win in the first ODI, India received a hammering from Australia in the 2^nd ODI with the series now nicely poised at 1-1. Australia planned well for this match and were spot on with their team selection. They did not pick any extra spinner and relied on their pacers in conditions which were suited for fast bowling. The toss going in their favour helped their planning a lot too and they executed it to a T.

Mitchell Starc has been excellent in this series with the moving ball. The way he blew away the top order will be a big concern for India. Starc enjoyed bowling on the pitch. He got movement, creating many problems for Indian batters, especially with the one that swing sharply into the right-hand batters. A left-arm pacer picking wickets with the inswinger to the right-handed Indian batters is nothing new. I don’t think that is the first time it has happened to the Indian toporder. It is quite evident that the hosts need to work hard on that aspect of their game. One of the things that they can do to avoid getting LBW is take guard on or outside the leg stump. This way they might be exposing the stumps but it also gives them a chance to access the ball with the full face of the bat rather than playing around the front leg,

Suryakumar Yadav’s confidence must be low right now with two first-ball ducks against Starc. Let’s see if he gets another go or not in the third ODI. Captain Rohit Sharma though has said that he will continue to give the potential match-winners a long rope, which is the right way to go about things.

Ishan Kishan missed the opportunity in the first game to make an impact and failed to retain his place in the XI. With Rahul scoring the match-winning unbeaten 75 in the first ODI, it was Ishan who had to make way for Rohit Sharma.

It was a hard day in office for Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj, who were exceptional in the first ODI. Their spell in the middle of the innings broke the back of Australian middle order but sadly for India, that was not the case on Sunday afternoon as Aussies reached the target with 10 wickets and many overs left.

Like Kishan, Shardul Thakur has not really done himself a huge favour either with subpar bowling effort in the first game and eventually got replaced.

Great to see Ellis pick wickets

As far as Australia are concerned, sticking to Mitchell Marsh at the top is clearly a good move and is working well. I am a big fan of Travis Head. I think he really is emerging now as a force as an opening batter in ODI format and maybe he is going to become one across all formats soon.

I had mentioned Nathan Ellis in my ODIs preview earlier that how good he is and why he needs to bowl as much as possible in the series. I am pleased he got the opportunity and picked up wickets, including that of Virat Kohli. Ellis is worth investing time in to prepare a world class bowler in future. For me he is the point of difference in their bowling attack. When they are fit and back in the squad, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins will form the Aussie pace attack alongside Starc. But in my opinion, you need a point of difference in your attack and Ellis does that job nicely right now. He is not just a brilliant bowler at the end of the innings but in the middle phase as well. He is a very canny operator who uses pace variations well. It is all about finding a spot for him in the final XI with Hazlewood and Cummins back and so many pacebowling all-rounders already in the mix. This series gives Aussies a good idea of how they can shape up their bowling attack balance going ahead, especially with World Cup in India in mind, where surfaces will play a huge role on the results. Your 15-man squad should be formed, keeping in mind the all types of conditions in India.

Glenn Maxwell is likely to return as soon as he is fit. Ellis replaced him in the 2nd ODI but I am hoping they don’t drop him when Maxwell returns. They must try and find a place for Ellis.

The David Warner situation is interesting. He was out of form in the Tests before an elbow injury ruled him out of the remaining two games. He is part of the ODI squad but has not played the first 2 games.

There is no update on his injury, at the time of writing this article, but I believe it is hard to keep him out for a long time. If he hits good form, he will certainly play in the World Cup and that could be his swansong.

In that regard, I also feel that IPL 2023 is going to be a key tournament for Warner. If he has a good IPL, he will find his place in the World Cup squad. In case, he struggled in the IPL, then that will have a big impact on the final selection.

For Warner, IPL will be a gauge on his fitness and form. But if selectors don’t go for Warner, they have Travis Head who is making name for himself at the top of the order. Marsh has done a great job as well. They have got many options for themselves for almost every spot. But sometimes, so many options also make you uncertain about what your best XI is. That is why all games before the World Cup must be used diligently before finalising the squad.