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The home team wins the first ODI in a three-game series in Sydney. Both India and Australia have been here before the last time they played a bilateral series in Australia. On that occasion, India came in from behind to win it 2-1 but that was January 2019. Back when Covid only had five letters, that wouldn’t have been particularly useful on Scrabble.
In November 2020, Australia will not only be strengthened by the return of Steven Smith and David Warner, but all three first-choice pace picks will be played. None of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood or Mitchell Starc played in the 2019 Games. In addition, India had Rohit Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar fit and in the XI. India looks askance now, with players with great individual skills making up the XI, but the batsmen can’t bowl and the bowlers can’t hit. That said, there’s no leeway for “relief” when you need it, and the hitting power falls off a cliff after # 7. It’s not that they have all rounders in their squad to fall back on, so for this series at least India needs to find a way with the resources they have, especially if Hardik Pandya is still not ready for bowling.
By default, the second game in a three-game series is a must for one team and a chance to sew the series for the other. This is more than just losing or winning the series, this provides multiple players with the opportunity to continue the adjustment phase to a format that is longer than 20 overs. Players will tell you, more than anything, that this is a mental change. As you play more games, you can get into that groove faster. There are three T20Is after the ODIs, yes, but they clash with the three day tour games that are scheduled before the tests. So it’s a good bet that most multi-format players on the ODI side will switch from 50 overs cricket to three day cricket to test cricket.
Not relevant to the result of the series, but also not insignificant, the first ODI was also the first international cricket match after the Covid-19 pandemic in which spectators stood in the stands. This game is going to have fans too, and any cricket match that is sure to be played with an audience in these times is progress.
Form guide
Australia WWLWW (last five games completed, last first)
India LLLLW
In the spotlight
Mitchell Starc has the best bowling rate in ODI history with a minimum of 500 overs bowling and is one of the best bowlers of the format of all time. Oddly enough, he was pretty common against India. In 12 games, his average, his savings rate and his hit rate are 34.70, 5.80 and 35.8, which are each significantly worse than his total numbers. He started the first ODI, which took the new ball and sent a 20 run over 11 balls first. Starc was among the few men on either side who weren’t part of IPL 2020, so the first game effort could be due to rust. And although 12 games are barely big enough, Starc has completed more than seven runs per game and won a single wicket in the last three games against India. That’ll have to be corrected soon, whether it’s rusty or not.
Shreyas IyerThe ODI career is only 19 games old and his stats in the previous format are impressive enough, with an average of 46.87 faster than a run of the ball. But Iyer will have his eyes on him with more focus than normal, especially since he dropped out in the first ODI: too late to avoid a short Hazlewood ball, and too awkward to do so with the bat protrudes over his head. This type of layoff pretty much ensures Iyer can expect few deliveries in his half. How he will deal with the expected short-ball fire could determine his short-term outlook.
Team news
Marcus Stoinis left the field after just 6.2 overs in the first ODI after sustaining an injury. Cricket Australia later said Stoinis had “an inferior side charge” making it unlikely to be available for this or even the next game. His unavailability is a blow as Stoinis has started to evolve into a strong upper-tier presence and a more than useful option with the ball.
However, Australia has options to replace stoinis. Cameron Green and Moises Henriques are both seamless all-rounders, with Green being rated particularly highly. Neither has bowled too much lately. Aside from them, there’s Sean Abbott, who is more of a bowling all-rounder but rattles 271 runs in five innings at Sheffield Shield while only out twice, and also with a bag of wickets. Ashton Agar is also a bowling all-rounder if Australia is looking to add more spin.
Australia {possible): 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch (Capt), 3 Steven Smith, 4 Marnus Labuschagne, 5 Alex Carey (week), 6 Glenn Maxwell, 7 Cameron Green / Sean Abbott, 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood.
India could keep an eye on Yuzvendra Chahal, who also went off the field during the first ODI but after bowling his full quota. Chahal’s problem didn’t look any worse than a cramp, but if he has a problem it could lead to a change in the XI. India might consider bringing someone like T Natarajan to Navdeep Saini as well.
India (possible): 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Mayank Agarwal, 3 Virat Kohli (Capt), 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (week), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 T Natarajan / Navdeep Saini, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal / Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Jasprit Bumrah.
Parking space and conditions
It will be a hot day in Sydney with temperatures of up to 40 degrees in the afternoon. The first game was a high-score game that was in keeping with the most recent form of the SCG. However, it remains to be seen how the baking sun and playing one game on someone else’s heels so soon will affect the surface. The spinners found a twist in the first ODI, but other than that, there wasn’t much in it for the bowlers.
Statistics and trivia
11.40 – this is Virat Kohli’s ODI average at SCG, the third lowest at which it is average any Ground and the lowest on a ground on which he fought at least five times. When you consider that the 21 he did in the first ODI got his highest score at the venue, raising his average, compounded the strange anomaly that Kohli didn’t get any runs at SCG, largely because Kohli Australia has otherwise scored tons of runs.
1 – Hardik Pandya’s rank among the Indian batsmen, sorted by hit rate in ODIs, with at least 1000 runs achieved. Pandya has completed 90,000 runs in a career best in the first ODI and his ODI hit rate is now 115.81. This is one of the reasons why even if he doesn’t bowl, his eyelash is enough for a 6th place spot.
Cameron Green’s top notch batting average is 50 while his bowling average is 22.5, which is still higher than his age at 21. You can see why he got everyone excited about his potential. Green has only played nine List A games, however, and his numbers in these (27.8 and 34.4) are not that noticeable. However, there is no doubt about its potential.
Quotes
“It was just sea ball, hit ball and obviously the foundation was laid so that I could be pretty aggressive. I picked my bowlers and where I wanted to hit them, and just played a few good strokes at areas of my strength It was nice to meet a couple in the middle and spend some time out there, and hopefully it keeps me well for the rest of the summer. “
Steven Smith on his match win 105 out of 66 balls in the first ODI.
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