The batters’ capitulation in overcast conditions in Perth has somewhat shifted the attention Down Under from Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. In the circumstances, the focus is on Shubman Gill and whether his first ODI series ends in a loss on Thursday itself.
Of course, the frequent rain interruptions in Perth in the series opener did affect the Indian batters. But before the skies opened up on Sunday, India were already three down with few runs on the board.
The manner in which Rohit, Kohli and skipper Gill had perished by then was due to a lack of application on a surface that assisted quicks. Even vice-captain Shreyas Iyer failed to negotiate the extra bounce, to be caught down the leg side after the match resumed.
The Adelaide Oval surface — where the teams meet for the second ODI on Thursday — is a lot friendlier to batsmen with shorter boundaries square of the wicket.
India haven’t lost an ODI in Adelaide since going down to Australia by 50 runs on February 17, 2008.
Now, the conditions might be different from that in Perth, but since it has rained in Adelaide leading into the game, it could well be overcast and cooler. So, a bit of lateral movement and help for the fast bowlers cannot be ruled out altogether.
Regardless of the conditions, India’s top four will have their task cut out against Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and the like, who are also getting some much-needed bowling practice in the build-up to the Ashes next month. The line outside or on the off-stump is still a problem for most of the Indian batsmen, along with the extra bounce, which troubles some.
The Indian team management, though, isn’t reading much into Sunday’s batting collapse in the rain-reduced 26-overs-a-side contest.
“... It would have been the same if Australia had batted first. When you don’t know how many overs you’re going to bat, it’s not easy to plan with four or five rain breaks.
Going in and out every few overs, it’s difficult,” batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said on Wednesday.
“It was more about the weather. In the last game, obviously, we lost a couple of wickets early, but we’re not really thinking too much about it,” Kotak added.
One way, it’s good not to get rattled after just one disappointing game. But India can certainly think of promoting the in-form KL Rahul up the batting order, maybe at No.4. Even on Wednesday, Rahul spent a fair amount of time at the nets during India’s training session.
The decision to push for a left-right combination has forced Axar Patel to be promoted ahead of Rahul.
For Adelaide, will India retain the XI that played in Perth? Will they continue with three all-rounders — spinners Patel and Washington Sundar, and seamer Nitish Kumar Reddy?
Since Gautam Gambhir’s appointment as head coach, batting depth has been given precedence in all formats, with a specialist like Kuldeep Yadav benched frequently. Will the chinaman bowler again be on the bench on Thursday? Or, will he find a place as replacement for one of the three all-rounders from Sunday?
