Australia vs India 2019, ODI series - Combined XI

India’s much-anticipated tour of Australia has come to an end. For the first time, India have ended the tour unbeaten in every format. They drew the T20I series 1-1 as rain played spoilsport in the second game. It was then a historic Test series win as the Virat Kohli-led side won the four-match affair 2-1 before clinching the ODI series as well (2-1). The ODI series was a very close one and almost every game went down to the wire. After Australia clinched the first game by 34 runs, India came storming back to level the series as they chased down 299. In the decider, despite scoring just 230, the Men in Yellow made a match out of it and dragged the game to the final over as drop catches and missed chances on the field cost them dearly. Thus, it was India’s first bilateral ODI series win down under. There were plenty of takeaways for both sides as they head to the World Cup. Hence, with the series done and dusted, let us look at the combined XI for the series. Here is the Combined XI of the series: 1. Rohit Sharma Rohit Sharma. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images) The Indian vice-captain was the third highest run-getter of the series. He extended his dominance in white-ball cricket as he amassed 185 runs in three innings. He scored a brilliant ton at the SCG in the first ODI and that came when India were in deep trouble at 4/3. That knock of 133 kept the team in the steep chase. Rohit made another decent contribution of 43 as he gave India a good start in the second ODI in their chase of 299. He was the best opener of the series given that the other batsmen got out early. Having said that, he could’ve bee more consistent and tailed off a little bit after a century in the series opener. 2. Shikhar Dhawan Shikhar Dhawan. (Photo Source: Twitter) It was certainly not a series for opening batsmen. Barring Rohit Sharma, no other opener could get going. Shikhar Dhawan looked good for a small period in the second ODI when he gave India a solid start, scoring a 28-ball 32. In the third ODI, he made 23 but hardly looked convincing during his 46-ball stay at the crease. Hence, since there was no other choice, and Dhawan was the second highest run-getter among the four openers (across both sides), the Delhi left-hander has been picked in this XI. With New Zealand series coming up, the left-hander will look to make amends now by bringing back his crisp drives to the fore again. 3. Virat Kohli Virat Kohl. (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images) It’s difficult to look beyond Virat Kohli for the number three spot. He has set high standards with his performances and only a solitary century in three matches could be deemed as one of the poor series. After a rare failure in the first game, the Indian skipper scored a fantastic 104 (his 39th ODI ton) to set up the chase for India. The Indian captain might not have seen the team through but he ensured that India were in the hunt because of him. In the decider, Kohli made 46 before falling to Jhye Richardson. Despite finishing the series as the fourth-highest run-getter and with an average of 51, it was a scratchy series for him. 4. Shaun Marsh Shaun Marsh. (Photo by Mike Owen/Getty Images) Shaun Marsh has been Australia’s best ODI batsman in the last year or so. He has become very consistent and in fact, has scored four hundreds in his last 10 innings and all of them have come in Australia’s losses. The Western Australian left-hander controlled the innings for the hosts batting at No. 4 and finished the series with the most runs. Marsh amassed 224 runs at an average of 74.67 which included a hundred and a fifty. His ton at the Adelaide Oval resurrected Australia from 26/2 and helped them post a competitive 298. However, Marsh’s exploits weren’t enough as Australia failed to win key moments and eventually lost the series. 5. MS Dhoni MS Dhoni. (Photo by Mike Owen/Getty Images) MS Dhoni became the oldest Indian to win an ODI Man of the Series award. There was a lot of pressure on him coming into this series having gone without a half-century in 2018. But the veteran struck three back-to-back fifties to guide India to a historic series win. Dhoni struck a 96-ball 51 after coming in at 4/3 in the first game. His unbeaten 55 off 54 balls helped India hunt down 299 while his unbeaten 87 in the series decider played a big role in the visitors crossing the finish line (target of 231). Thus, Dhoni finished the series with 193 runs and was dismissed just once. 6. Peter Handscomb Peter Handscomb. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images) Apart from Shaun Marsh, there was another Australian batsman who had a good and consistent series. Peter Handscomb batted at No. 5 and played a couple of handy knocks. He scored a fine 73 in the first game which infused momentum into Australia’s innings and propelled them to 288. And once again in the last game, when wickets were tumbling at the other end, Handscomb stood firm and struck a run-a-ball 58. Amidst the wickets falling at the other end, the crafty batsman kept the scoreboard ticking and he was the reason that the home side crossed the 200-run mark to make the match competitive on a low surface. 7. Marcus Stoinis Marcus Stoinis. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images) Marcus Stoinis was in the thick of the things at every moment in this series. Batting ahead of Glenn Maxwell, he made sure that Australia didn’t lose the momentum gained. Having said that, the all-rounder had a great chance to stamp his authority in the decider after coming in to bat with a lot of overs to go only to be dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal. With the ball, Stoinis’ medium fast deliveries provided crucial breakthroughs as well to keep Australia in the game. Despite being expensive, Aaron Finch kept going back to him only because of his ability to pick wickets at crucial junctures. Stoinis’ 86 runs with the willow and four wickets while bowling makes him the best all-rounder of the series. 8. Bhuvneshwar Kumar Bhuvneshwar Kumar. (Photo by Mike Owen/Getty Images) Bhuvneshwar Kumar hadn’t played a lot of cricket over the last couple of months. He sat out in all four Test matches and moreover, since his comeback from injury, he hasn’t looked at his best. Thus, this was an excellent series for India’s premier limited-overs pacer. He took eight wickets and was the highest wicket-taker of the series. His spells with the new-ball were exceptional as he gave nothing away. He made Aaron Finch his bunny as he got him three times in a row and in a similar fashion, with the ball coming back in. Apart from the series opener, Bhuvi was decent at the death too. Thus, in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar stepped up beautifully. 9. Jhye Richardson Jhye Richardson. (Photo by Mark Evans – CA/Cricket Australia/Getty Images) Jhye Richardson was Australia’s best bowler of the series. He’s accomplished something that not a lot of bowlers have. He had Virat Kohli’s number throughout the series and dismissed him in all three games. The 22-year-old pacer had terrific numbers as well. Richardson finished the series with 6 wickets at an average of 18.66 and an economy of 3.73. His performance of 4/22 in the first game earned the Player of the Match award. He was one of Australia’s shining lights in this series and also earned a call-up to the Test side as Josh Hazlewood’s replacement for the upcoming Tests against Sri Lanka. He will also make his Test debut it seems. 10. Mohammed Shami Mohammed Shami. (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images) India have had a problem with their third seamer for a long time now. With Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar certain for the World Cup, they were unsure of who their third pacer would be. Mohammed Shami has put his hand up and delivered. He was excellent with the new ball and was pretty effective at the death as well. He took 5 wickets in this series and nudged ahead in the race for India’s third seamer. Shami also had a check on the opposition’s run-scoring in the middle-overs and a good New Zealand series will more or less seal his place for the mega-event in England. 11. Yuzvendra Chahal Indian cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal (Photo by Tharaka Basnayaka/NurPhoto via Getty Images) The Haryana leg-spinner might have played just one game but he bowled beautifully and was the best spinner of the series. He took 6/42 and derailed the Australian innings in the series decider at the MCG. Chahal broke quite a few records during this spell. It was not only his second fifer in the 50-over format but also his best figures. Kohli introduced him late into the attack but Chahal got the set batsmen Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja in the very first over of his spell. His variations proved to be too good for the opposition batsmen as the leggie spun a web around them with his consistency.

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