Fluctuating ODIs reveal what India will face on tour

India made a blunder when they placed their batting maestro at No. 4 in the opening ODI against Australia.

Don’t weaken a strength to strengthen a weakness is a pretty wise adage but India ignored it and paid a hefty price. Virat Kohli is the number one short form player wherever he bats but at No.3 he’s ideally placed to utilise his skills to the team’s advantage.

In ODIs, the three batsmen most likely to score a century should be at the top of the order with the opportunity to face the bulk of the deliveries.

This theory applies to all teams but in Kohli’s case, and especially against Australia, it’s critical to adhere to that policy.

Australia has two of the best pace bowlers in the game and the Indian batsmen best equipped to challenge them are Kohli and Rohit Sharma. If Kohli gets on top of Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc then batting becomes easier against the remainder of the Australian attack.

KOHLI THREAT

A rampant Kohli against the Australian pace pair also means skipper Aaron Finch will have headaches that an aspirin won’t fix. This was evident in the second contest when Kohli dominated after being sensibly returned to his rightful No.3 spot.

Finch was forced to bring back Cummins and Starc earlier than he would’ve liked and in doing so used up overs that were planned for the tail end of the innings.

Despite the reversal in Rajkot, Australia is a very good side with enough class players to punish any opposition mistakes. Placing Kohli lower in the order in Mumbai was a big mistake.

If the middle order is a concern for India the best way to overcome the problem—other than finding a player to plug the hole—is to have Kohli making big scores at three.

However, it’s hard to see where the problem lies. There’s no doubt KL Rahul has the talent to bat successfully at No.4 and his performance in the second contest only served as evidence.

Since that is the spot available to him whilst Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have a mortgage on the opening partnership the best policy is to persevere with the elegant right-hander batting behind Kohli.

The young man who followed Kohli at Mumbai, Shreyas Iyer, was afforded the treatment a lot of the Indian batsmen can expect when they tour Australia next season. He was softened up with some well-directed short stuff before succumbing to a fuller delivery from Starc.

PREPARATIONS

This is standard fare on the bouncier Australian pitches and it’s a strategy the Indian batsmen should be prepared for on that eagerly awaited tour.

In pondering that Test series there are a few pointers that can be gleaned from this short ODI series.

Firstly, the batting order in a Test series is a different proposition. India has a perfectly good Test No.3 in Cheteshwar Pujara so in the longer format, four is the correct spot for Kohli.

From Australia’s point of view they may want to consider playing leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson at home following Adam Zampa’s success against Kohli in the first two ODIs. This will depend on the venues, as Nathan Lyon will be the first spinner chosen but Zampa’s five successes against Kohli may be a possible fragility worth pursuing.

The Mumbai success was Australia’s fourth ODI win on the trot in India, dating back to last year. It’s not a good policy to let an Australian team get on top mentally, especially as Tim Paine has the Test side in a far different frame of mind from the shell-shocked bunch who lost to India in 2018-19.

India is the best equipped side in world cricket to tackle the Australian Test team at home.

They have the bowlers and batsmen to succeed in those conditions but the way these two ODI contests have fluctuated is an indication that this challenge is going to be a lot tougher than the last tour.