ALL EYES ON KOLKATA SKY
Teams hope for sunshine on Eden
India would expect their top order batsmen to make amends for a rare poor show in the series-opener and hope that the spinners continue to torment Australia when the two teams clash in the second ODI, here on Thursday.
Heavy rain that lashed the eastern city of Kolkata on Wednesday forced the Australian and Indian teams to skip net practice. The ground staff covered the playing area for the last three days due to the seasonal downpour. Australian skipper Steve Smith said his side was ready for Thursday’s game despite being unable to train outdoors Wednesday.
The Australians are struggling against India’s new spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal and the hosts would like to ensure that it doesn’t get any easy as the series progresses.
Yadav is proving to be a mystery for the Aussies, who have have also struggled to pick Chahal’s sliders. The visitors were seen taking the help of local wrist spinners to find tricks to counter the Indian bowlers. While Kerala’s KK Jiyas helped them before the Chennai ODI, two local club bowlers — Ashutosh Shibram and Rupak Guha — provided some practice to the Aussie batsmen, here. Chasing a revised target of 164 in 21 overs in the rain-interrupted first ODI, Aussies were 35 for four before Glenn Maxwell’s powerhitting raised hopes of an unlikely win.
But Chahal and Yadav went about their task meticulously to seal a 26run win. The Aussies have a bigger threat to contend with in Hardik Pandya who steered India to a respectable 281 for seven from a precarious 76/6. Pandya hit another hat-trick of sixes — four times in International cricket — as he smashed 83 from 66 balls in a matchturning 118-run partnership with MS Dhoni (79 from 88).
Pandya’s rise since IPL-2015 has been remarkable. From being a careless hitter to restraining his shots in the V, Pandya has matured as a player. He has also emerged as the utility medium-pace all-rounder that India have been searching for long. His knock in Chennai had a demoralising effect on Australia’s leading spinner Adam Zampa.