SERIES TAKEAWAYS
Follow UsRavichandran Ashwin makes tempting World Cup case
For the longest time in ODIs, India looked at Ashwin as the ex with whom they didn’t wanna get back. They ignored him and borderline blacklisted him in an attempt to get over him.
Ahead of the Australia ODIs, a chain of events (read: fate) led to India giving Ashwin ‘another chance’ and well, across the two ODIs he played, the Tamil Nadu man gave the side plenty of reasons to contemplate getting back together.
Ashwin did not have the greatest of starts in Mohali — conceding 36 runs off his first 6 overs while going wicketless — but bounced back emphatically in his second spell to finish with 1/47 off 10 overs. Those last 4 overs, in which he conceded just 11 runs while removing a set Marnus Labuschagne, served as a reminder of his quality.
But it was in Indore that Ashwin truly put forward his World Cup case, single-handedly sealing the series for India under lights, removing Labuschagne, Warner & Inglis in the space of 8 balls in a truly mesmerizing spell of bowling. That particular spell was as much chess as it was cricket; you could just see that this was a genius at work strategically deconstructing his opponent.
There Ashwin put to bed fears over his wicket-taking ability by stumping the Australian batters with his (many) carrom ball variations.
The three-match series was seen as an Ashwin v Sundar battle but, at this point, it seems obvious that the 37-year-old is ahead in the pecking order, considering he started the series over his younger counterpart and also got two games as compared to Sundar’s one. Sundar himself bowled a fantastic defensive spell in the third ODI in Rajkot but him leapfrogging Ashwin on the basis of that one performance seems very unlikely.
The Indian management and selectors will have their work cut out. Even if Axar Patel recovers fully, you just get the sense that Ashwin might end up getting the nod.
Marnus Labuschagne has (surely) sealed his spot in Australia’s World Cup squad
For Labuschagne has all but sealed his spot in the World Cup squad with his showing across these three games.
After showing plenty of promise in both Indore & Mohali, Labuschagne put the pieces together in Rajkot to play a superb knock of substance.
It would be easy to reduce a 72 off 58 in a team total of 352 to just a ‘decent knock’, but not only did Labuschagne withstand a collapse — Australia went from 215/2 to 299/6 — he batted expertly against the old ball when scoring got discernibly tougher.
In the entire game, he batted more fluently against the old ball than any other batter.
It would be tough for the Australian selectors to leave out Labuschagne in the form he’s currently in — 421 runs @ 60.14 since the start of the South Africa ODIs — but the dwindling returns of Alex Carey, slated to bat at No.5, is an even bigger reason to have Labuschagne in the 15.
Carey is averaging 23.12 this year and has only one 20+ score apart from the 99 he scored in Centurion. Couple this with Maxwell’s lack of game time and uncertainty over Green/Stoinis, it’d almost be a blunder to now leave out Labuschagne, who is currently the only in-form middle-order batter for the Aussies.
Jadeja’s batting form a concern heading into the World Cup
Jadeja is averaging 27 with the bat this year (which is completely acceptable for a No.7) but is striking at a mere 64.28. In his last 18 ODIs, dating back to Jan 2022, he’s struck at 63.73, having hit just 2 sixes in 353 balls.
In Rajkot, Jadeja endured a painful 36-ball stay — barely able to connect anything — but Wednesday’s encounter was anything but a one-off. In the Asia Cup, the left-hander had opportunities to influence matches with the bat against Pakistan (Pallekele), Sri Lanka and Bangladesh (both Colombo) but struggled similarly across conditions and situations.
The drop in numbers wouldn’t have been a cause for concern had, say, Jadeja been putting up impressive numbers in T20s but across his last 32 T20 matches, dating back to March last year, the left-hander has been striking at just 130.1, which is far from impressive for someone that predominantly bats at No.6 and No.7.
Come the World Cup, India will need Jadeja to shrug this sluggishness off and produce magic like he did in the IPL 2023 final, if and when the time comes.
Stoinis vs Green debate still undecided
Well, a month later, here we are. The World Cup is almost here, but who between Stoinis and Green starts the first match vs India in Chennai is anybody’s guess.
That Green played the third ODI, in which Australia were almost full-strength, suggests he *might* be ahead in the pecking order, but the 24-year-old has not really set the stage alight with his performances. Apart from the 19 (13) in Indore, he didn’t show a lot of spark with the bat, and while he bowled well in Rajkot (1/30 in 6.4 overs), he got absolutely hammered in Indore, conceding 103 off his 10 overs.
On the other hand, Stoinis has not impressed either.
Supposedly the better bowler between the two, Stoinis got hammered for 40 off the five overs he bowled in Mohali. That came on the back of him getting pummeled for 81 runs in Centurion. In Mohali, he also squandered a golden opportunity with the bat. The 34-year-old is now averaging an appalling 18.53 with the bat across his last 40 ODI games, dating all the way back to March 2019.
South Africa ODIs ❌
India ODIs ❌
Maybe the warm-up games will decide who among Green and Stoinis starts the India clash on October 8th.
Other takeaways
> Shreyas Iyer seems to have (rightfully) reclaimed his No.4 spot. After a fidgety start in Mohali, the right-hander struck a sublime ton in Indore and followed it up with a gritty 48 in testing conditions in Rajkot. Ishan Kishan not featuring in the XI in the third ODI suggests that Kohli-Iyer-Rahul is all set to be India’s first-choice middle-order for the World Cup.
> Glenn Maxwell superbly doubled-up as a second spinner in Rajkot, but this three-match series highlighted the importance of Ashton Agar for Australia. His presence helps the Aussies control the middle-overs, something they won’t be able to do in the subcontinent with just one spinner. It would also be unrealistic to expect Maxwell to maintain the same standards, given he is a batting all-rounder. Agar is currently back home in Australia with a calf issue (he’s also on paternity leave), but the Kangaroos will need him at all costs for their WC opener against India in Chennai.
> Despite impressing with the ball in the first ODI in Mohali, picking up a swashbuckling five-fer, Mohammed Shami looks certain to be a non-starter but for an injury to Siraj or Bumrah. He out-bowled Shardul Thakur in both Mohali and Indore, but the Rajkot ODI showed why India cannot afford to play three specialist seamers who cannot hold the bat.
