The way Dhoni times his innings is incredible: Zampa

The second One-Day International between India and Australia is still 48 hours away, but the ominous black clouds hovering over Kolkata will worry the Australians, who come into this contest 0-1 down in the five-match series.

On Tuesday (September 19), the Australians were restricted to training indoors after a bout of rain and overcast conditions kept the Eden Gardens under covers throughout the day.

Rain had complicated things for the visiting side in Chennai, where it fell short of the reworked target of 164 by 26 runs in the 21-over chase.

"It was tough once it came down to 21 overs," Adam Zampa, the only specialist spinner in the Australian playing XI in Chennai, told reporters. "They did well with the ball - that made a lot of difference. The wicket was spinning quite big too, and it was hard to pick spinners at night. It was a totally different ball game."

Australia did well with the ball initially, reducing India to 87 for 5. Hardik Pandya and Mahendra Singh Dhoni then took the attack to the opposition to take control of the game and lift India to 281 for 7.

Zampa faced the brunt of Pandya’s assault, being smashed for a four and three sixes on the trot as the all-rounder changed gears after a long period of consolidation.

"I did not execute how I would have liked to in the over against Hardik," admitted Zampa. "It would have been important to get him off the strike. Probably I bowled three balls too full. As soon as you miss against a player like Hardik, it's going to go the distance. Hardik is a very good player.”

Pandya hit another six off Zampa when he returned to bowl the 41st over, but eventually holed out to James Faulkner at short third-man off the leg-spinner.

"You never like to be hit for three sixes in a row. But I guess it does happen, probably happened to Shane Warne too. As long as I don't put myself under too much pressure and learn from those situations, I hope I can get him out earlier next time.

"It is tough sometimes, bowling a bad ball can sometimes hurt a lot. It's your job as a spinner in the middle overs to get the best out of the situation. When something like that happens, the best thing is to take a deep breath and get the player off strike or get him out."

Zampa insisted that in Indian conditions, maintaining a tight length was the key to success.

"Length is very important with the size of the grounds in India," he said. "In Australia, you can mess up your length a little bit and you will probably get away with it purely because of the size. Here, the length is very important. I pride myself on bowling well under pressure but the other day, I just did not execute it too well."

It as not just Pandya who wreaked havoc in Chennai. Dhoni's late surge helped the host dent Australia, and had it not been for his efforts at the death, with some help from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the reworked chase could have well been in favour of the visiting side.

"MS has obviously done this for a long time and probably played a lot of innings under pressure like that," said Zampa, who played alongside the former India captain for Rising Pune Supergiant in the Indian Premier League. "The way he has timed his innings in his whole career is incredible, and for a young player like Hardik to have him as a guide is very helpful. It was very important to try and break that partnership and obviously we did not bowl too well in the middle."

The limited training session on Tuesday meant the bowlers - except Pat Cummins and Faulkner, who rolled their arms over for a bit - went without practice. The batsmen took turns to face throw downs in the indoor nets before calling it a day.

Zampa, however, believed that there was enough sting in Australia's attack to make a comeback in the series.

"We have got plenty of variety in our attack," he pointed out. "The two quicks (Cummins and Nathan Coulter-Nile) bowled really well. Jimmy (Faulkner) doing what he does - leg-cutters and off-cutters. So there's plenty of variety in our side."

India cancelled its scheduled training session at the Eden in the evening due to the underfoot conditions and the weather.