Last Updated on 4 years by Charbel Coorey
Australia vs India ODIs: 5 Key Player Battles To Watch Out For | AUS vs IND ODIs: Key players to watch out for?
The Australia-India bilateral ODI series is set to commence from November 27. The three-match series will be played in the shadows of the Test series that will take place Down Under next month. However, a lot will be on stakes for both the sides as they will look to refine their limited-overs setup.
The series particularly promises to present the highest quality of white-ball cricket given the sheer quality of players present in both the squads. Given the attitude and temperament of both these teams, they will be wary of conceding even a single inch during the series and hence individual match-ups and their results will arguably largely determine the final outcome of the series.
Without further ado, in this article Cricblog elaborates on the five key player battles that will be extremely critical for the final result of this three-match ODI series.
1: Virat Kohli vs Adam Zampa
In Rohit Sharma’s absence, Virat Kohli will have to shoulder a bulk of the responsibility of the batting order. The Indian skipper will be tasked with setting the tone of the innings, maintaining a healthy scoring rate in the middle-overs and possibly take the game deep to ensure that the team reaches a robust total.
However, he will have to encounter the challenge that Adam Zampa brings to the table for that. The leg-spinner has a surprisingly fine record against the right-hander, having dismissed him on five occasions in the nine ODI matches that the duo has faced each other. Kohli has notched runs at a strike rate of 116.77 against Zampa, but the Aussie has managed to outwit his counterpart on the majority of the instances.
The 32-year-old is renowned for his incredible ability to rotate the strike regularly and prevent spinners from accumulating up pressure on him in the middle-overs. Yet, Zampa has delivered 30.20% dot deliveries against Kohli in nine ODIs. He manages to plug the flow of runs through the Indian captain and even dismiss him regularly, thus negating Kohli’s threat towards the later stages of the innings.
2: David Warner vs Jasprit Bumrah
David Warner is often the first force that a visiting side has to break down in order to defeat the Aussies in their own backyard. What would a team do if their most stellar weapon with the ball itself falls flat against the southpaw? Yes, that’s the case between David Warner and Jasprit Bumrah.
The pacer has taken immense strides ahead in all formats of the game recently. His skillset is such that it has made even the best of the batsmen look frail in front of him. Yet, Warner has somehow managed to evade succumbing to Bumrah’s deliveries in ODIs so far. The opener has faced the fast-bowler in eight innings, and he has scored a modest 70 runs from 70 balls so far. He has notched 11 boundaries, taken 18 singles but has never been dismissed by Bumrah in the 50-over format.
This is particularly crucial given the fact that if Warner sticks around the crease post the 10th over mark in Australia, he is more often than not set for a big knock. The batsman averages 45.63 at a strike rate of 100.33 in 56 ODIs in Australia. Given his familiarity with the Indian bowlers considering his exploits in the IPL, Warner very well will make life tougher for the visitors if they fail to send him back to the pavilion early on in the innings.
3: Shikhar Dhawan vs Pat Cummins
India’s persistence to push KL Rahul down the order to accommodate Shikhar Dhawan at the top order speaks volumes of the confidence that the management has on the Delhi Capitals player in the limited-overs game. Dhawan is pivotal to India’s success in ODIs, given his tremendous ability to score runs at a laudable pace and for a long period of time.
His counter-attacking approach puts the Indian team on the front-foot right from the onset. Australia will look at Pat Cummins to neutralize the threat brought on board by Dhawan. The Aussie pacer has more or less managed to overpower the Indian opener in their face-offs so far. The two players have come up against each other in seven innings and Dhawan has managed to score runs at a strike rate of 87.85 in 107 deliveries against Cummins.
However, the fast-bowler has dismissed him on three occasions and maintained a 61.68 dot ball percentage over Dhawan. It is important to note that the left-handed batsman has faced Cummins in the field restriction overs for a large part of their duels.
Statistics indicate that the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) pacer blocks the flow of runs and thereby compels Dhawan to look for a release shot via a boundary. In this process, he betters his chances of dismissing the 34-year-old. Sharma’s absence will put some additional responsibility on Dhawan at the top and the batsman will have to work out a way to get Cummins to aptly fulfill his responsibilities.
4: Glenn Maxwell vs Yuzvendra Chahal
Glenn Maxwell has had knocks of 77 runs and 108 runs against England, away from home, in his last three ODI innings. The maverick middle-order batsman will be raring to go against the Indians. Going by his recent exploits, it seems that Maxwell will not merely be a finisher but also someone who will be expected to assume a significant responsibility in the second half of the innings.
The all-rounder has a strike rate of 125.03 in home matches and also maintains a fine average of 37.09. India will rely on Yuzvendra Chahal to outsmart Maxwell by utilizing his variations and forcing the batsman into mistimed shots in the big Australian grounds. Moreover, the leg-spinner has a fantastic record against the Kings XI Punjab player too, having dismissed him four times in six ODI innings. Maxwell has scored 40 runs in 32 deliveries against Chahal in the 50-overs game, which includes four boundaries and a couple of sixes.
But, his tendency and incessant urge to take on the leg-spinner ensures that Chahal often provides additional flight or width to his deliveries to prevent Maxwell from getting full force of the bat behind the ball. One will most likely come across such situations in the forthcoming series and an exciting contest between these two players will be looked forward to.
5: KL Rahul vs Mitchell Starc
KL Rahul will assume the important role in the middle-order, possibly at number 5. In the series against New Zealand, Rahul displayed seamless adaptability to settle well at his new slot and deliver the required performances from there. He is incredibly capable against both pacers and spinners, and has various gears to his game that makes him perfect to fill that gaping hole in centre of the Indian batting lineup.
Batting at 5, Rahul will be facing Mitchell Starc at a stage of the game in which the left-armed pacer is extremely valuable. Starc’s stunning accuracy to put the ball at the block hole and mix it up with his fierce bouncers in the death overs makes it difficult for batsmen to keep hold of wicket, let alone take him on, which is need of the situation. Rahul fits the bill for this perfectly, and it was visible in the second ODI of the three-match bilateral contest between the two nations in January this year.
In Rajkot, Starc bowled 14 deliveries to Rahul and the batsman hit him for 26 runs that included three boundaries and a solitary six. It was a breathtaking display of stroke-play and the bowler will be wary of the promise and talent that the Karnataka-based batsman brings to the equation, even in an unfamiliar batting position. Rahul has been in a flawless run of form recently, and he will desire to continue that in the coming series. The KXIP skipper will be integral to the Indian team churning out runs in quick succession against an incisive Australian bowling attack in the death overs.
Written by Tarkesh Jha. Follow Tarkesh on Twitter today.
