‘Aise hi bhasan dete raho’ – Fans frustrated after Rohit Sharma explains the rationale behind India’s batting strategy vs Australia in second ODI
Australia demolished India by 10 wickets in the second ODI.
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Mar 20, 2023 11:23 am
Rohit Sharma (Source: Twitter)
Team India were brought down as Australia pummeled them by 10 wickets in the second ODI at Visakhapatnam. The batting was a complete no-show from the Men in Blue. The Indians folded up for just 117 which was the third-lowest total forIndia in ODIs. This was also the fourth-lowest total against the Kangaroos at home.
After the game, Rohit gave an assessment of the team’s batting performance, this is what he had to say. “We thought we could put pressure on Australia and while trying to play aggressively, I lost my wicket”. This is what transpired for India. The Men in Blue lost the wicket of Shubman Gill early. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli tried to bat aggressively and put the pressure back on Australia, but Rohit played a rash shot and lost his wicket to Starc.
Mitchell Starc picked up his 9th five-wicket-haul against India in ODIs
Then wickets fell continuously at regular intervals. There was no comeback from India as Starc was at his menacing best. He picked up brilliant figures of 5-53 in just eight overs. The left-arm-pacer was vicious and troubled the Indian batters. The top order did not come to party and Virat Kohli and Axar Patel were the only two batters who got respectable scores. Starc received support from Nathan Ellis and Sean Abott who picked up Kohli and Hardik Pandya respectively.
This bowling performance was total annihilation against India. In the run chase, the Indian’s did not have time to lick their wounds. The Australians played in T20 mode and raced to the target of 118 in just 11 overs. Travis Head was unbeaten on 51 off 30 balls with 10 fours. Mitchell Marsh was unbeaten on 66 off 36 balls with six fours and six sixes. Both of the ODIs were low scoring games but Australia made a mockery of India at Visakhapatnam.
India failed to negotiate the left-arm pace threat. It remains to be seen how India will make comeback at the series decider in Chennai. India will want to sort out their top order woes before the go and play in the Indian T20 League. The Men in Blue have their hands full and have to find answers to the tough questions.
