India vs Australia: 5 takeaways for Virat Kohli and Co from the ODI series

After suffering a humiliating defeat in the first ODI at Wankhede, Virat Kohli and Co. retaliated and bounced back to clinch the three-match series 2-1. A robust batting unit, impressive bowling performances and agile fielding efforts steered India to the series win on the home soil.

India showed a lot of character and how much it means to them protect their record at the home turf. Australia were easily India’s biggest test this season, but the dominant Men in Blue once again found a way out of that situation.

Virat Kohli and his troops have been producing such results over the last two years and it was no surprise they fought back being 1-0 down to go and win the series 2-1 in just a week’s time with the New Zealand tour in sight.

Let’s take a look at five takeaways for India from this three-match series:

1. Invest in KL Rahul’s talent

KL Rahul has been thrown in different challenges almost every time he has been given a place in the starting 11, but he has fought his way out through all of them. There is very little that KL Rahul hasn’t done for this team since his debut and the latest addition to his resume is ‘batting at No.5 and keeping wickets’.

KL Rahul keeping wickets opens a lot of opportunities for the team and can be an option going forward as indicated in the final ODI. When KL Rahul went in to bat at No 5 he showed us all why the captain and the management has backed him so much over the years. Virat Kohli even went on to say in the post-match ceremony that this was his best innings and it showed a lot of class and maturity.

It’s not every day that you find batsman like  KL Rahul who can bat at any position and adapt well to different situations, and this series will act as a clear indicator to BCCI why they should invest in his talent.

2. Shreyas Iyer against the short ball

Shreyas Iyer has had probably the easiest time to settle into international cricket facing teams like West Indies, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh all at home conditions. The youngster has hogged the headlines due to his recent performances and has cemented his place at the No.4 position for Team India.

He has shown a lot of quality in all of those innings but hardly was he tested against quality fast bowling. Australia tried the short ball against him and to a certain extent, they were very successful because they really had Shreyas Iyer rattled in a few occasions.

In the last ODI, Shreyas decided to counter-attack against the short ball ploy but not every day you are successful with that approach and the tour of New Zealand will let us know where he stands with his quality against top-class fast bowling, but at the moment he has done enough to justify his position.

3. Role of Kedhar Jadhav

Kedhar Jadhav is 34 years old and looks highly unlikely to play the World Cup 2023 considering he will be 38 by then. With Ravindra Jadeja improving his batting to a great extent it looks highly unlikely for Kedhar Jadhav to get an opportunity in this line-up.

India can start looking at someone like Suryakumar Yadav who is scoring a lot of runs and can be a looked up for that role of a finisher. Does Kedhar Jadhav have a future with this Indian side?

It’s not Kedhar Jadhav’s fault that he finds himself in this position but considering the team balance and with Hardik Pandya set to come into the squad, He looks set for a long stint on the sidelines.

4. Feeding off Bumrah’s brilliance

Jasprit Bumrah looked a bit rusty in the first game at Mumbai but it took a champion like him just a few games before he was at his very best in the 2nd ODI at Rajkot.

Bumrah didn’t go on to have a massive impact in the wickets column but his impact was nothing short of brilliant. Considering he bowled at an economy of 3.5 in a 340 run chase on an absolutely flat Rajkot wicket was just as good as five-wicket haul. The Mumbai Indians speedster looked back at his very best

Shami and the others got a lot of wickets but huge credit has to be given to Bumrah for their success as he is so instrumental in building pressure that the batsman have no other go but to go hard against the other bowlers presenting them with more wicket-taking opportunities.

5. Navdeep Saini is the future

When Australia lost Smith and Carey the game was all but done in Rajkot but what stood out was the barrage of yorkers by the Indian pacers and doing that along with Bumrah and Shami was a young Navdeep Saini.

Just a few games into his international career, Navdeep Saini in that spell displayed excellent control and not to forget the lightning pace in which he sends those deliveries at. The speedster has also delivered brilliant yorkers in the death overs.

Going forward and  looking at the T20 World Cup in Australia and the future tournaments we have in the coming years it’s very essential we take great care of this fine talent, and allow him to grow into a champion who will carry forward the legacy of this bowling attack in the coming years