Australia vs India, 2nd ODI- Australia Predicted XI

The first one-day international between the hosts Australia and India ended on a positive note for the former as they took a lead of 1-0. The win would do Australia a world of good as they have been struggling to find the best combination of eleven in the 50-overs format and in the tour as a whole. There is little doubt on this fact that the visiting team would come hard in a bid to bounce back when the second ODI gets underway in Adelaide on Tuesday.

The batting, which has been under the scanner, came together at the SCG to execute their plans impressively well during the middle overs. However, they have been criticised for not translating a score of 290 into 300 or more. The hosts would certainly be hoping to take that into consideration by promoting Glenn Maxwell up the order by setting up that platform for him. The bowling line-up will look to carry on the momentum they had in the first game.

We take a look at the predicted Aussie XI for the second ODI:-

Openers (Aaron Finch(c) and Alex Carey)

The Australian captain has been fighting for form as of late. The last time Australia played an ODI series at home, Finch played three matches, scoring only 57 runs. In the first fixture, the Victorian was done by a beauty from Bhuvneshwar Kumar that came back to hit the stumps. The 32-year old will be desperately hoping for a turnaround after a disappointing year with the bat.

The wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Carey showed glimpses of playing a long inning by churning out some glorious shots. He scored 24 before edging one to the slip off Kuldeep Yadav. The gloveman will be aiming to build upon the start as Australia search for a reliable set of openers before David Warner returns to the scheme of things.

Middle order (Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb)

Their middle order has been severely criticized, having not been able to rotate the strike and losing wickets in clusters in the middle overs. Nevertheless, Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja controlled the innings nonchalantly against the likes of Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja to put on 92 for the third wicket.

Peter Handscomb, who is one of the best players of spin, was equally admirable as he ended up as the top scorer for Australia with 73 runs. He shared two important half-century partnerships, first with Shaun Marsh and then with Marcus Stoinis as Australia got propelled to 288. The Victorian would look to carry on from where he left as the hosts eye a resurgence before the World Cup.

All-rounders (Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis)

Australia’s win did not hide their lack of adaptation to the modern style of one-day cricket. Australia’s assistant coach Brad Haddin more notably was concerned with his side playing fearfully. The men in yellow will be hopeful of rectifying it by promoting Maxwell up the order, wanting a score of in excess of 300.

Although Marcus Stoinis did nothing wrong as he played a handy inning of 47 from 43 balls, however, with five overs to go, there was lack of intent from Australia to get to a score that could turn out to be tough ask for India on a slow and sluggish pitch. He was a tad expensive but picked up two wickets including one that of Rohit Sharma. Being an emerging and a useful all-rounder, Stoinis retains his place in the eleven.

Bowlers (Jhye Richardson, Jason Behrendorff, Peter Siddle, Adam Zampa)

The pace bowling attack was prolific in the first game. Having rested their frontline bowlers, the emerging bowling stocks of Australia soared above the expectations. Man of the Match Jhye Richardson returned with the bowling figures of 10-2-26-4, sending back Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, and Ravindra Jadeja.

Debutant Jason Behrendroff was equally stunning as he produced the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan and was instrumental in breaking the match threatening partnership between Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni.

Peter Siddle, who made a comeback in the national colours for white-ball cricket after a span of nine years was a slight weak link, giving away 48 runs in eight overs. However, we could witness him retaining his place in the side, considering Stanlake made his appearance in the Big Bash League against the Sydney Thunder today in Sydney.

The spin department could foresee a change with Nathan Lyon making way for the leg-spinner Adam Zampa. The red-ball specialist bowled decently in Sydney but returned without a wicket and the Aussies would be anticipating more of a wicket-taking bowler, in the middle overs, who could put the brakes on the run-scoring.

Get the latest Cricket News and updates, Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.