India's batting remains their strength in the shorter format and they will be expected to put up a strong performance against a formidable Australian bowling attack.
The time for experimentation is running out. It is time to finalise team compositions and secure a winning habit. With the 2015 ICC World Cup just 28 days away, it is crunch time as teams aim to gather momentum. For defending champions India, the preparations reach a head when they take on Australia in the second match of the tri-series in Melbourne on Sunday.
Australia have made a statement with their victory with bonus point against England in Sydney on Friday. The hosts have always been a tough proposition at home and their showing on Friday secured that reputation. For India, who have lost just two games in the last 12 matches and have won four successive ODI series, will aim to extend their winning habit ahead of the World Cup.
Team news
India
Aggressive openers. Check. Solid middle-order. Check. Excellent finishers. Check. India tick the batting boxes. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have shown their mettle at the top. However, India's X-factor is Virat Kohli, a reliable match-winner. He was Indias leading run-scorer in ODIs in 2014 with 1054 runs (average 58.55) and is in great form in Australia, having scored four hundreds in the recent Test series. Suresh Raina is another key player for India in ODIs. His century off 75 balls against England in Cardiff sparked off India's recent domination. With MS Dhoni at the helm and Ajinkya Rahane playing the floaters role to perfection, the batting looks impregnable.
However, there are questions when it comes to bowling. Though Mohammed Shami picked up 38 wickets in 16 ODIs last year, he had an economy rate of 6.16. The rest of the bowling has struggled for consistency. Death bowling has been a massive issue for Dhoni. India coach Bharat Arun put the pacers through their paces in Melbourne, emphasising the right line and lengths on these wickets. Bhuvneshwar Kumar got an extended net session following his rusty show in the Sydney Test while Ishant Sharma miss out in the first match due to a sore knee. Axar Patel and R Ashwin will man the spin department, considering the nature of Australian pitches this summer
Probable XI
1. Shikhar Dhawan, 2. Rohit Sharma, 3. Ajinkya Rahane, 4. Virat Kohli, 5. Suresh Raina, 6. MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 7. R Ashwin, 8. Akshar Patel 9. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10. Umesh Yadav, 11. Mohammed Shami.
Australia
The hosts started off their campaign on a bright note. David Warner scored a brisk century and the middle-order was solid though none went on to make a big score. Australias real challenge will be for someone to step up the plate in case Warner and Steven Smith fail to make a big score. The bowling was well led by Mitchell Starc in Mitchell Johnsons absence. Starc generated good swing and pace and ended up with four for 42 in the first match against England. Pat Cummins bowled with good pace while James Faulkner kept it tight in the middle overs. They will have to tighten their death bowling though. In Sydney, they conceded 67 runs in 7.5 overs and will be looking to avoid a similar fate at Melbourne. Although, Warner complained of a sore hamstring in Sydney, he might play and thus the team might make no changes.
Probable XI
1. David Warner, 2. Aaron Finch, 3. Shane Watson, 4. Steven Smith, 5. George Bailey (capt), 6. Glenn Maxwell, 7. Brad Haddin (wk), 8. James Faulkner, 9. Mitchell Starc, 10. Pat Cummins, 11. Xavier Doherty.
Stats
In the last ODI series between these two teams in India, India won the seven-match series 3-2. The teams scored a total of 3596 runs in 11 completed innings, the most in ODI history.
Australian skipper George Bailey scored 478 runs at an average of 95.6 in the same series, with a century and three half-centuries.
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