'Treating it like a knock-out match' – Bhuvneshwar Kumar

The visitors slipped to a 34-run defeat in the first ODI in Sydney, where Australia reduced them to 254/9 while in pursuit of a 289-run target. India lost their first three wickets for four runs, crippling their chase before it took off.

“We’ve been in this situation before in India, so we know it's not impossible to win the series,” Bhuvneshwar said on Monday, 14 January, the eve of the second ODI. “We’re preparing in a manner to win the next two matches.

"It's a kind of knock-out for us. We can’t afford to lose this match. We’re not thinking anything different from how we’ve been thinking for the last couple of years. We just want to win the match and everyone is positive for that.

“It was one of those matches where the top order didn’t click. It can happen when you play so much cricket. So it was just one of those things, it’s very rare for us.”

Kumar has recently struggled to get adequate match-time due to a combination of injury and the selectors' rotation policy. He did not feature in India's playing XI in the four-Test series and was brought into the team after a month for the first ODI.

Being out of the XI did impact him, he said. "Matches are totally different when it comes to bowling," he explained. "I was trying everything to be in rhythm in the nets, but it can’t be 100% until you come to a match. It wasn’t great in the last match but neither was it bad. It could improve.

"In the nets, I was not planning to bowl in the one-dayers. I was preparing to play in any of the Test matches. There wasn’t anything specific that I could do. It was just normal bowling and increasing the number of overs ... four overs to six to eight to 10 … that was the key thing for me, to be niggle-free and be in bowling rhythm.”

Jasprit Bumrah, the spearhead of India's pace attack, has been rested for the ODI series as well as the upcoming limited-overs tour of New Zealand. Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Khaleel Ahmed, along with Kumar, are India's seam options in his absence.

“I think it's a good combination. Bumrah is not here because he needed some rest, so Shami, me, Khaleel and Siraj are doing well in domestic [cricket] and the IPL or Indian matches," Kumar pointed out.

"Everyone has their own skill set and way of going into a match, so overall it's a good combination."