Captain Rohit addressed form concerns with a blazing ton in the 2nd ODI. Now, all eyes are on the other struggling star batter, Kohli, as India eye a clean sweep in the series
AHMEDABAD: With captain Rohit Sharma back among the runs with a splendid 90-ball 119 in the second ODI, there are hopes Virat Kohli will follow suit. The star batter will be expecting to regain some batting form ahead of the Champions Trophy in the third ODI against England here on Wednesday.
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While it may be a dead rubber, it is an ideal situation for the Delhi cricketer to spend time in the middle as India eye a clean sweep.
The hosts have ticked most of the boxes in the series but some gaps still remain. In both matches, England’s openers got off to brisk starts while batting first, a concern for new-ball pacers Mohammed Shami and Harshit Rana. With left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh, who recently became India’s highest wicket-taker in T20Is, warming the bench, the management might be inclined to give the Punjab left arm pacer an opportunity in this game.
Shami, who has taken two wickets (2/104 in 15.1 overs) in as many matches so far, has been far from his usual self. His lack of incisiveness and penetration upfront has meant captain Rohit has been relying on the spinners to pull things back in the middle overs.
With Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel providing the allround options, the last spinner’s slot will be a fight between the left-arm wrist spin of Kuldeep Yadav and ‘mystery’ spin of Varun Chakravarthy.
On the batting front, Rohit apart, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel have been in good nick.
As for Kohli, it was at this ground that his dismissal by Australia captain Pat Cummins in the final of the ODI World Cup silenced the crowd. That final was the only loss – and the one that rankles the most – India have suffered in the five ODIs they have played here so far.
England, on the other hand, have frittered away good starts and found themselves in a middle-overs muddle. Can they pull off a consolation win?