IND v AUS, 3rd ODI Preview: Virat Kohli's India one strike away from the series and number 1 spot

After two competitive encounters in Chennai and Kolkata, the focus now shifts to Indore as India look to gain an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series. MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya fired their side to memorable win at the Chepauk and a sensational team effort at Eden Gardens puts them well in the driver’s seat.

The result thus far seems a bit harsh on Australia, but their batting has let them down in both the games. They’ve been heavily reliant on David Warner and Steve Smith to do the bulk of the scoring, but they’re as mortal as anyone else. Their failures cannot be showcased as the reason behind the team’s failure as there are a lot of talented batters in the middle like Travis Head, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell and Peter Handscomb.

Nevertheless, to keep Smith or Warner silent for a long time is next to impossible. Once either of them starts scoring runs, the positive energy will spread across the dressing room. Indian spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal have been the stalwarts behind their team’s success thus far in the series and Kohli will definitely trust them with another game, which means Ravindra Jadeja will be sitting on the bench for a longer time.

An Indo-Aussie game disappoints the spectators on very rare occasions and this series to has been living up to the expectations brilliantly. Indore is a relatively smaller ground in terms of boundary lengths and it will be a tough day for the bowlers. If a flat deck is provided, a mind-boggling run fest is definitely on cards.

Toss: Australia won the toss and opted to bat first

Captains corner

Steve Smith: “We are going to bat. I don’t read wickets too well, hopefully, we can post a good total. The next three games are must-win for us. Finch and Handscomb are playing in place of Cartwright and Wade. We are trying to strengthen the middle-order a little bit, hopefully, we can step up today.”

Virat Kohli: “We would have batted first as well. The pitch could play better for the batsmen under lights, maybe it will be a little slow during the day when it is dry. We are playing the same team.”

Playing XI

Australia: Aaron Finch, David Warner, Steven Smith(c), Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Peter Handscomb(w), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Kane Richardson

India: Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli(c), Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal

Focus will be on

Virat Kohli (India)

Ever since he equalled the legendary Ricky Ponting’s 30 ODI centuries’ tally, Virat Kohli has been under the spotlight. He came close at the iconic Eden Gardens, where a battled his way out to score 92 invaluable runs, but the adverse weather conditions were killing each and every player on the field and the Indian skipper too lost his cool soon. He has been in sensational nick ever off-late and one brilliant knock here at Indore can round off the series and maybe, it can buy him a place in the record books as well.

Nathan Coulter-Nile (Australia)

It has been a fairy-tale return to the elite level for Nathan Coulter-Nile, who thus far has been the best Aussie player in the series. He’s bowling in beautiful channels and is not compromising with his pace, which is making life inexplicably difficult for the Indian top order. With 6 wickets in 2 games, he’s really making a big case for himself in the unit. It’s a do-or-die situation for the visitors and they need their spearhead to pull off something outstanding in this crucial encounter.

Playing combinations

India

Though Rohit Sharma has not been amongst the runs this series, he will remain at the top alongside Ajinkya Rahane. Virat Kohli will be taking the number 3 slot, with Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav and MS Dhoni to follow. Hardik Pandya at number 7 is going to be very crucial with the bat, given their top order falters the way they did in the first ODI.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been at his imperious best this series, swinging the game in India’s favour in the powerplay. His fast bowling companions Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya too have been no less, picking up crucial wickets for the side. It’s hard to put the effort of the spinners Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav into words as they are making life difficult not just for the Aussies, but also for Jadeja and Ashwin.

Australia

Aaron Finch is expected to return for the third game, which is a massive boost for the visitors. He and David Warner at the top is always a scary combination to lock horns with and Hilton Cartwright might make way for Finch. Steve Smith will come in at 3, with Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Mathew Wade comprising the middle.

Patrick Cummins Nathan Coulter-Nile and Kane Richardson formed a brilliant trio in the previous game. Cummins with his pace has been extremely economical and Coulter-Nile has been reaping the benefits with some fabulous counter-attacking bowling. Ashton Agar and Marcus Stoinis’ performance in the middle will be decisive and it’ll be interesting to see how these all-rounders will fare in a batting friendly location like Indore.

StatAttack

4- India has played 4 games at this venue and emerged victorious every time.

9 – Given India win this game, they’ll register a record-equaling 9-match winning streak.

41 – Virat Kohli is 41 runs away from scoring 2000 runs as skipper. He needs to reach the milestone in next 6 innings to break AB de Villiers’ feat of the fastest to 2000 ODI runs as captain.