India VS Australia 2018-19

First topic message reminder :

The only time India lifted the Border-Gavaskar trophy was in 2003-04 when the series was drawn 1-1. Many considers this is the best chance for India to lift the trophy with a win, as this Aussies side is the weakest one to have played against India. Let's see how the summer shower it's heat in Australia. The schedule are as follows

T-20 series:
Match 1 - 21 November - Brisbane
Match 2 - 23 November - Melbourne
Match 3 - 25 November - Sydney


Test Matches

1. Adelaide : 6-12-18 to 10-12-18
2. Perth : 14-12-2018 to 18-12-18
3. Melbourne : 26-12-18 to 30-12-18
4. Sydney : 03-01-19 to 07-01-19

ODI Series:

Match 1 - 12 Jan - Sydney
Match 2 - 15 Jan - Adelaide
Match 3 - 18 Jan - Melbourne

To be honest I am not happy with the scheduling. Indian team management thinks that T-20 or the ODIs are the best way to get acclimatised to the home conditions and they were proved wrong in the last two tours. Still they have only one practise game for preparations. Also if the nepotism wonder R. Sharma gets into the XI, I will support Australia to repeat 2011.

Looking like an Australian win in the first ODI...

India needing 73 off the last 28 balls and even Rohit Sharma (129 from 127 won't do that.

Bit meaningless these after -Test ODIs ; but shows anything can happen on a day. Didn't see the Aussie batting as I was in the field all day ; but the bowling has been OK.

Rohit gone...all over.

4/22 for Jye Richardson (since when was that a name ? ) from nine ...he will go to England for the WC.

Finishes with 4/26 from ten.

India need 62 from three overs. Good luck

--Lacklustre Indian bowling, not having solidity in batting.....carrying a WK-batsman who on his good day plays out 1/3rd of the overs @3RPO, when the team was chasing 6.5RPO....sums up Indian effort
They need to get Rahane, Pant and Jadhav in the 11 & hope Pandya can be back after serving his punishment sooner

--Aus batted well, coz Indian bowling was lacklustre and captain missing the intensity
Aussie bowling seems to have some good back-up to top.3 test seamers
limited overs performance are much better indicator of test match bowling potential than batting

India looking a bit pedestrian chasing 298 but still have wickets in hand. India have a very poor tail though, and thats perhaps why they tend to start very cautiously having to rely on the top order scoring the bulk of runs. A contrast to Englands all guns blazing at bat to 10 approach.
Very much in the balance at this point, but Aus are looking a long stronger in this series than they have in their previous two. They could be a force at the world cup.

Agree, in the balance. Kohli is the key, of course. Rayadu just holed out - no surprise, a very scratchy innings.

I'd have thought India were pretty well placed at 155/2 off thirty...

Plenty of time for something to go wrong ; and as Goose says thy have a bit of a tail - though not as much as in the Test XI - but I'd rather their position at the moment.

Of course as I type Rayudu holes out (I am becoming a master of the accidental jinx) ; but Kohli is still there ...I reckon they'll run this down. Could be tight though...

Australia always seem to peak for World Cups (probably why they've won so many !) ; but I'd beware of reading too much into a single home win over an Indian outfit who just might be feeling a bit "job done , lets relax and enjoy these meaningless ODIs" . And who seem to be putting out a slightly unbalanced eleven in these games (experimenting with an eye to the WC ?)
Also likely different conditions later this year in England..

S Marsh is a different animal in this format , isn't he ?

Still looking tight .... 215/3 off 39.
They need to accelerate, but have Kholi well set and support in the bank. It wont take many wickets to make it look very different though with that tail.

Kohli gone after trying to hit a big'un. A really substandard innings from Dhoni (so far) heaped the pressure on his partner. No boundaries for 5+ overs is remarkable at this stage of the game.

44 off 30 balls is still very doable.
They really do save it for the death overs preferring to keep wickets intact, but Id make Aus favourites now.

24 from 17 .... Dhoni scoring in 1s and 2s ....but really setting it up for others to hit the big runs. If this comes off hes going to look very very smart

16 from 12 ... still struggling for boundaries but they are taking runs off everything and can do it without any. Quite an unusual innings for the modern game with less than a quarter of runs from boundaries at this point but shows Indias strength in more traditional proper batting

Impressed with Australia's sharp fielding and accurate bowling, but in the end a lack of wickets and the late collapse in their own innings cost them.

Very surprised to hear that Australia haven't won consecutive ODIs for two years! The once great Australia for whom making a World Cup final was a mere formality.

With wickets in hand , eight or nine an over is always likely to be done. It looks close but unless a clatter of wickets happens at the end - and it usually doesn't on an easy pitch like that - batting team will get there nine times out of ten.

One all so the final match could go either way I guess.

Dhoni isn't the finisher he used to be . But they still reckon he's worth his spot : suppose he does a job , of sorts. But I wonder if they don't have better options , now ?

India badly need Pandya back for their balance....but given the social media outrage on what he said.....they might end up cutting his hands in a public square televised live

Kohli now averages 60 in ODIs for over 10,000 runs......and average-wise ABDV and Bevan come close with 53 each on the same scale of runs i.e 7,000 for bevan and 9,500 for ABDV

The difference in quality is seen most in tests and relatively less in ODIs and T20s and Aus are a handy ODI side capable of beating anyone
I can bet Starc will be back in the ODI XI for world cup......Richardson is good, Behrendorff juts OK....Coilter Nile was better

alfie wrote:With wickets in hand , eight or nine an over is always likely to be done. It looks close but unless a clatter of wickets happens at the end - and it usually doesn't on an easy pitch like that - batting team will get there nine times out of ten.

One all so the final match could go either way I guess.  

Dhoni isn't the finisher he used to be . But they still reckon he's worth his spot : suppose he does a job , of sorts. But I wonder if they don't have better options , now ?

In a hero-loving emotional nation ( emotionally immature in my view) Dhoni has a cult following seen before only by tendulkar & Kapil Dev to some extent.
These emotional citizens  believe its a national duty to carry your heros to the next milestone as a payback for their services to the nation....and that milestone is deemed the 50 over world cup...although bloody Tendulkar got to 2011 worldcup, won it and then sneaked in another couple of years crawling with sub-standard performances as our payback to his greatness.

The nation is split though  & there is a logical ( less emotional) half...or maybe little less than half.... that can see Dhoni is puffing, panting, eating balls, slowed reflexes and lack of same power in his body....is well past the prime....and that Karthik a proper WK as well as Pant are both better batsmen and no less as ODI wicket-keepers

But with worldcup so close now...it seems the emotional half are winning.......and living in delusions of Dhoni's greatness
while the logical half know he will screw up and lose us some games ...and are hoping that his mess-ups are not too costly in the overall scheme of the tournament.

These days Isha Guha and Michael Vaughn are my favorite commentators

Guha is fresh, articulate, polite like Hussain was once upon a time but turned stale & cliched in last few years
Vaughn is crisp and most "not sugar coated" commentator

I believe its a good idea to keep bringing in new commentators....they have a shelf life of about 4 years after which they start sounding stale and cliched

The ABC commentators were at it again apparently with some jokes about encouraging Afghani legspinners to become refugees and seek asylum in Australia. More clumsy ill advised comments than conscious racism but it does betray that some of the older generation still struggle a bit to understand that their musings don't always reflect well, particularly when reported to an Asian audience.

That said the underlying point is valid, Australia lack a Rashid type spinner who can make things happen in the middle overs.

I still maintain though that they are looking closer to a competitive side in this series than they have in the previous two, and assuming Smith and Warner are back in contention still could be a force at the world cup. Unlike tests they seem to have a few new faces sticking their heads up, and some level of confidence and positivity in the side.

Australia are defending a paltry score of 230 in the decider, and have made things even more difficult for themselves by dropping Kohli and Dhoni, as well as spurning two run-out chances.

Looks like a fairly comfortable stroll down the home straight for India, Dhoni showing his experience and lack of nerves to bat smart again.

Bit of a meaningless game in many ways, its almost an Aus B team playing. The biggest worry for them is that Finch still looks out of touch, his test experience seems to have affected his confidence.

Assuming nothing dramatic happens in the closing overs Chahal is the guy who made this easy for India, taking 6 wickets, maybe an element of Aus being completely unsighted on him and unprepared. Certainly underlines that India have a lot of options for the world cup.

Dhoni at the moment excelling in putting dollops of pressure on his batting partner. Five consecutive forward defensives puts the RRR up to near nine.

Duty281 wrote:Dhoni at the moment excelling in putting dollops of pressure on his batting partner. Five consecutive forward defensives puts the RRR up to near nine.

This isn't a good one day innings, whether they win or not. India should've wrapped this up in 40 overs

They should have. Pedestrian batting. Fortunately, Siddle has got Harmison-2006 radar installed.

India get over the line and win the series. Pretty much a replica of the last ODI - Australia didn't score enough, didn't take enough wickets, but they clung on thanks to the pace of the ancient Dhoni, before eventually succumbing.

The World Cup isn't too far away, but I don't think either of these teams will have learned much from this short duel. Oddly, Australia tour India next month for a strictly limited-overs tour (five ODIs and two T20s) where I suspect both teams will know even less.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Dhoni at the moment excelling in putting dollops of pressure on his batting partner. Five consecutive forward defensives puts the RRR up to near nine.

This isn't a good one day innings, whether they win or not. India should've wrapped this up in 40 overs

The only way they could lose is by wickets falling. Dhoni played very smart and didnt let that happen.
Its clear from the last game too that India are quite content to take easy ones and twos with almost no risk when they dont have to, and then pile on the runs at the death if required.

It was a mature and considered innings form a guy who has a reputation for being a big hitter. Hes proven he can play both ways as the game dictates recently.

There is no Prize for winning in 40 overs, and certainly not one for losing.

Dhoni has passed 50 in every innings and got out once in this series. Still people have it in for him. 2018 Dhoni looked done, it looks like hes remodelled his approach to suit the Indian game plan, and its paying off.

if they were chasing 350 he would have to revert to type, but they havent been.

India is missing Pandya.cause having him is like a 3rd seamer for ODIs and a good No. 7 and so India is not forced to play Jadeja as an allrounder...and then India can play both writs spinners....and Kuldeep and Chahl bowling in middle overs makes an imposing bowling attack

Dhoni played nearly a third of overs that Indian team faced...or in other words almost the quota of a full ODI inning
and scored only 22% of needed runs

That shows he was never upto the Required run-rate given that India chased all 3 times.....and like a parasite sucked upon Jadhav, DK & Kohli to make up the required rate....forcing these three to play at almost 2 RPO more than the required rate

and the day Rohit went only at RRR of 6 but could not go 2RPO more......team lost.

The 2 games India won and especially the game today was not are justified going into the last over....we should have won with 10 overs to spare today .

We are stuck with Dhoni and he will lose us a critical game in worldcup resulting in a premature knock out

KP_fan wrote:Dhoni played nearly a third of overs that Indian team faced...or in other words almost the quota of a full ODI inning
and scored only 22% of needed runs

That shows he was never upto the Required run-rate given that India chased all 3 times.....and like a parasite sucked upon Jadhav, DK & Kohli to make up the required rate....forcing these three to play at almost 2 RPO more than the required rate

and the day Rohit went only at RRR of 6 but could not go 2RPO more......team lost.

The 2 games India won and especially the game today was not that are justified going into the last over....we should have won with 10 overs to spare today .

We are stuck with Dhoni and he will lose us a critical game in worldcup resulting in a premature knock out

This is what I think too KP_F - the stats back it up, Dhoni's style of ODI batting or simple loss of ability isn't good enough anymore, and really his place in the side should be in danger (in the past year, Pant scores quicker in tests than Dhoni does in ODIs!)

Dhoni's innings reminded me of the criticism Cook and Trott used to get when they were in the England ODI side. You simply can't bat like that any more in ODIs. At one point, the RRR went above 9 because of Dhoni's negativity, heaping pressure on his partner, and had Jadhav not struck a run-a-ball 61, India would have probably lost.

87 off 114. It's like something out of a 2004 ODI.

Duty281 wrote:You simply can't bat like that any more in ODIs.

You clearly can, they've won the last two games at a stroll.

He scored faster than Dhawan, Sharma and Kholi. He scored more than Dhawan, Sharma and Kholi. Unlike Dhawan, Sharma and Kholi he didnt get out.

The previous game he was only outscored by Kholi, and got his runs at a faster rate than him. He outscored and out paced Sharma and Radyu. He didnt get out , unlike all 4 batsmen above him.

But hes the problem?

You cant even blame him for the loss of the first ODI when 7 players got out for single figures whilst scoring slowly. You cant expect him to start smacking sixes from the off when hes come in the 4th over at number 5.

You only need to score at 6 an over when thats the target you are chasing.
India also want to pick bowlers on their bowling, and dont have the depth a team like England does or bits and pieces cricketers like Aus. They simply cant afford to go out all guns blazing and chuck away high order wickets. If they were chasing a 350+ score then yes the top order bats would have to take more risks earlier and not just leave it till the final powerplay with wickets in hand, personally Id wait to see how Dhoni performs in those circumstances rather than worrying about whether they managed to put Australia to bed in 40 overs or not.
Its not just him thats been playing this way, the top order have consistently been batting with caution through this series. Its clearly a tactic to pace innings that they feel suits them better than trying to blast through to 10 like England do.

I didn't watch it all ; but it struck me that this wasn't a pitch on which it was easy to motor along at eight an over...rather a tricky one for stroke players , although you could stay in easily enough.
I thought India paced their innings pretty well : always going to win unless there was a clatter of wickets.
Dhoni isn't , perhaps , the player he was ...but clearly they value his experience , and track record. He will keep in the WC , nothing surer. I don't think they can win it anyway , to be honest ; but I am not sure Dhoni-Pant-Kartiik will make the difference anyway. We will see.