Plenty to play for in dead rubber

English

A  0-3  defeat  against  Australia  would  be  its  second  rout   in   consecutive   ODI   series having met the same fate in New Zealand earlier this year.

The     first     two     games     turned  out  to  be  run-fests  in which Australia out-bat-ted  Virat  Kohli’s  men  and  before  they  switch  over  to  the T20 series, a win at the picturesque   Manuka   Oval   could do their confidence a world of good.

Skipper  Kohli  has  been  the  first  to  admit  that  they  have been outplayed in the two games and it is expect-ed    that    some    corrective    measures  will  be  taken  in  order  to  get  its  campaign  back on track.

Navdeep    Saini,    India’s    fastest  bowler,  like  a  lot  of  others on his first tour of Australia,  has  looked  clueless.

Such   has   been   his   plight   that   Kohli   was   forced   to   bowl    a    half-fit    (bowling    wise)   Hardik   Pandya   and   even   Mayank   Agarwal   to   complete  Saini’s  spell  after  he gave away 70 runs in seven overs.

It  could  well  be  possible  that one of Shardul Thakur, with  an  experience  of  27  international   games,   or   the   yorker     sensation     rookie     left-armer  Thangarasu  Natarajan will replace Saini.

In   case   of   Natarajan,   it   could   be   his   international   debut  and  a  chance  to  test  himself  in  an  inconsequential  game  before  the  start  of  the  T20  series  where  he  is  sure to play a part.Natarajan,  with  his  clever  variations  and  change  of  pace, could provide a different dimension, as the cutters might work well and a bit of swing  may  be  on  offer  on  a  ground which is not exactly a closed concrete jungle and may aid a bit of swing.

Never  had  an  Indian  at-tack  looked  so  out  of  sorts  as  it  did  in  the  two  games  --  hit  for  69  boundaries  and  19 sixes.

Kohli  said  that  switching  of formats from T20 to ODIs can’t be an excuse for a team whose   core   has   remained   pretty  much  the  same  for  a  considerable period of time.

The  bowlers  have  had  no  idea  where  to  bowl  to  Steve  Smith,  who  has  decided  to  single-handedly torment the  opposition  with  back-to-back 62-ball-hundreds.Add   to   it,   Glenn   Max-well’s  power-packed  finishing at the end of the innings is  giving  it  those  extra  30  runs    which    are    creating    the  difference  from  India’s  perspective as the margin of defeats  of  66  and  51  respectively would suggest.

Still, India can take solace from  the  fact  that  in  both  matches,  the  batting  looked  the part and maybe, a target of 335 to 340 could have been chased on both occasions.