India vs Australia 2019: Combined XI of the series

A resurgent Australia pulled off an epic comeback in the series against India to win the series 3-2. From being down 0-2 in the series to bouncing back and winning it took a lot of character from the visitors. This is their first ODI series win since January 2017 and ended up being a perfect ’10-year-challenge’ of sorts. The team last won an ODI series in India in 2009 and has struggled in the country ever since then. There were some great performances from players of both the teams. However, it is the Kangaroos who managed to outwit the ‘Men in Blue’. They managed to hold their nerves at crucial junctures and thus contributed in this resounding victory. Here is the Combined XI from the ODI series: 1. Usman Khawaja Usman Khawaja. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) Usman Khawaja was in scintillating form in the series. He hit the ball and was so confident that he could pull off all kinds of shots against the best of Indian bowlers. He was the ‘Man of the Match’ in two out of the five games and was also the ‘Player of the Series’. With two centuries and two half-centuries, he top scored in the series with 383 runs at an average of 76.60. Moreover, he scored his runs at a strike rate of 89 and gave the team good starts in almost every game. These performances surely must have sealed his place for the World Cup 2019. 2. Rohit Sharma Rohit Sharma. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) The Indian opener Rohit Sharma didn’t have the best of times by any means considering his standards. He struggled to rotate the strike in the series and later failed to cover it up with the big shots. In the first ODI, he scored 37 off 66 balls. He followed it up with a duck and 14 in the next two games. His best performance came at Mohali where he narrowly missed out on scoring a century. In the Delhi ODI too, he couldn’t score runs quickly. Yet, he is the fourth highest run-scorer in the series with 202 runs in 5 matches at an average of 40. 3. Virat Kohli (c) Virat Kohli. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) Virat Kohli, the run machine, was yet again great in the series. He started off with 44 in the first game. The Indian skipper followed it up with two back-to-back centuries. However, he couldn’t really get his team over the line in the last two matches when they needed him the most. Kohli is the second highest run scorer in the series with 310 runs at an average of 62. He made quite a few questionable decisions as a captain and also vented out his frustration at the bowlers at times. Yet, he is the best possible option available and will lead this combined XI. 4. Peter Handscomb Peter Handscomb. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) Peter Handscomb was one of the most impressive Australian batsmen in the series. He uses his feet extremely well and thus looked very comfortable against the spinners. Handscomb rotated the strike well and thus often put the pressure back on the bowlers. In the fourth ODI, when Australia was chasing a big total, he stood up to the challenge and scored a wonderful century. He was good in Delhi as well with a well-compiled half-century. In five games, the right-hander scored 236 runs at an average of 47.20. 5. MS Dhoni (wk) MS Dhoni. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) A total of three wicket-keepers were tried by both the teams in the series. Of them all, MS Dhoni seemed to be the best. He played a match-winning knock in the first ODI under pressure. His partnership with Kedar Jadhav got the team over the line in a tricky chase. Then, he bagged a golden duck in Nagpur. He was looking good in Ranchi as well as he tried to attack the bowlers but was yorked out by Adam Zampa. Dhoni was easily much more superior to Rishabh Pant and Alex Carey behind the stumps. In the three games that he played, the wicket-keeper batsman scored 85 runs at an average of 42.50. He plucked three catches and affected one stumping in the series and was also involved in a brilliant run out. He will keep wickets in this ‘Combined XI’ as well. 6. Ashton Turner Ashton Turner. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) Ashton Turner is possibly the find of the series for Australia. After he scored 21 off 23 balls in his debut game in the first ODI, he was benched for the next two games. But Marcus Stoinis’ injury woes provided Turner with a wonderful opportunity in the 4th game. He played a gem of a knock under some serious pressure. Turner was brilliant in Mohali and helped Australia complete it’s highest successful ODI chase ever. Turner scored 84 runs off just 43 balls in that game and it never seemed as if he was just playing his second game. In the last ODI, he scored run-a-ball 20 before he got out while trying to attempt a lofted shot. 7. Marcus Stoinis Marcus Stoinis. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis adds a great balance to any team. He is equally potent both with the bat as well as the ball. Stoinis is a hard striker of the ball even though he was nowhere close to his best in this series. In 4 games, the all-rounder scored 140 runs at an average of 47 and will take up the role of a floater in this side. Stoinis picked up two wickets in the 20 overs that he bowled in the series. He will have to fulfil a greater responsibility with the ball in this eleven. 8. Pat Cummins Pat Cummins. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) It is a rarity to see a pacer excel in Indian conditions. However, Pat Cummins is in the form of his life at the moment. He adjusted to the Indian conditions quickly and figured out the effective deliveries that can be bowled within no time. Even though the pitches assisted spin, Cummins managed to finish as the leading wicket-taker in the series. He accounted for 14 wickets in 5 matches at an average of 15.71. His economy rate of 4.65 was the second best in the series after Nathan Lyon. 9. Jhye Richardson Jhye Richardson (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) The 22-year-old Jhye Richardson was another highly impressive performer in the series. He had to warm the bench during the first two games but was picked in the eleven for the third ODI. He created an immediate impact by picking up 3 wickets in Ranchi. Richardson followed it up with another three in the 4th ODI while he picked up 2 wickets in the series decider. Even though he missed two games, he was the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the series. The left-arm pacer picked up 8 wickets at an average of 21.12. 10. Adam Zampa Adam Zampa. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) Adam Zampa was highly impressive for Australia in the series and was instrumental behind this win. The leg-spinner bowled the critical overs of the game and accounted for some big wickets. Whenever Australia was under pressure or required a breakthrough, Aaron Finch had no hesitations on tossing the ball up to him. Zampa picked up the scalp of Virat Kohli twice in the series. He bowled his quota of 10 overs in all the five matches and picked up 11 wickets. However, he gave away a few loose deliveries at times and needs to work on that aspect of his game. 11. Kuldeep Yadav Kuldeep Yadav. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images) Kuldeep Yadav went for a few runs in this series but picked up some important wickets as well. After being rested during the T20I series, he got to play all the 5 ODIs. The chinaman was good in the first three games when MS Dhoni was behind the stumps. He picked up 8 wickets in these three matches. But in the last two games, in the absence of MS Dhoni, he could only pick up 2 wickets. He conceded runs at an economy rate of 6.4 and 7.4 in the last two ODIs respectively. He was the third highest wicket-taker in the series. 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India vs Australia 2019: Combined XI of the series

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