India look to level series in Adelaide

Overview

**Australia v India**2nd ODI
Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
Tuesday, 15 January, 1.50pm local time, 3.20am GMT

Australia won the first ODI by 34 runs at the Sydney Cricket Ground courtesy a strong bowling performance, especially from right-arm pacer Jhye Richardson, who returned figures of 4/26.

The hosts will want to build on that performance, where they made a respectable 288 with the bat and reduced a potent India batting line-up to 254/9 in the chase.

The likes of Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh and skipper Aaron Finch add experience to the batting line-up, while Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis can provide the finishing impetus.

Their pace battery is relatively inexperienced, but youngsters Richardson and Jason Behrendorff, who made his ODI debut in Sydney, were impressive, claiming six between them. Off-spinner Nathan Lyon, all-rounders Stoinis and Maxwell, and veteran workhorse Peter Siddle complete an effective bowling line-up for the hosts.

India will heavily rely on the top three of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli once again, since none of the lower-order batsmen impressed in Sydney after a quick loss of wickets upfront. Sharma got an authoritative 133 and MS Dhoni stuck around with a 96-ball 51, but as their skipper pointed out after the game, it slowed the "tempo" of the chase.

Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik will want to step up with the bat, especially since Shubman Gill and Vijay Shankar have now been called upas replacements for the banned duo of Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul.

The visitors might consider switching Ravindra Jadeja with Yuzvendra Chahal, who picked up 29 wickets in 17 matches in 2018. This might open up a spot for Shankar, who can come in as the bowling all-rounder and bat at No.7.

Key players

**Usman Khawaja (Australia):**Khawaja had a relatively successful Test series against India, where he was Australia's third-highest run-scorer. He scored an 81-ball 59 in the first ODI, walking in at 8/1 after Finch's early dismissal. He has returned to the Australia one-day squad for this series and will want to cement his place in the XI ahead of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019.

**Rohit Sharma (India):**Rohit Sharma scored his fifth century in Australia last game, which is the joint-highest for an Asian batsman. He thrives in the high bounce the pitches offer Down Under and thus, will be India's best bet of levelling the series in Adelaide. He is also the No.2 batsman on the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings for batting.

Conditions

The forecast for Adelaide predicts partly cloudy conditions on Tuesday, which might assist the pace bowlers. However, the pitch is considered to be the best to bat in all of Australia, which can thus make the second ODI a high-scoring affair.

Squads

**Australia:**Aaron Finch (c), Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Jhye Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Jason Behrendorff, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa, Ashton Turner

**India:**Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Vijay Shankar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, K Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Shami