Series: Australia tour of India, 2017 Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata Date & Time: Sep 21, 01:30 PM LOCAL
START TIME
1:30 PM
8:00 AM GMT
1:30 PM LOCAL
Preview by Kaushik Rangarajan
It's nearly time for Pujo in Kolkata and the city is abuzz with frenzied activity in preparation for the festival. Attempting to moderate the merrymaking is a depression over the Bay of Bengal, which has brought in a fresh batch of September rain. But it'll take much more than a burst of seasonal showers to dampen Kolkata's spirit of celebration. Try harder, rain.
Amidst the hullabaloo, cricket finds its only connect through dozens of Sourav Ganguly billboards, none of which has anything to do with currently sub-textual ODI series. The timing of the game and the weather situation could see the iconic stadium operate in less-than-peak capacity even for a marquee fixture as this.
For India, the festivities seem to have extended to the field. They have now won each of their last seven games in the format dating back to the tour of West Indies. But Australia had their moments in Chennai, most notably with the ball at the top of the innings, and were potentially a wicket away from setting up a series lead of their own. One defeat doesn't make the World Champions ordinary, nor will one win answer all of India's questions going into the series. But there were enough indications to bother one and please the other.
Wrist spin has already achieved a central, overarching presence in the early series narrative. Australia are not comfortable with it and India had two of the kind - Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal - operating in tandem for the first time in an ODI. In fairness to the visitors, their middle-order had to contend with spin in the face of an inflated required run-rate, one that was not out of their doing and couldn't afford to "knock them around to fielders in the deep" as Steven Smith likes it.
There is excitement in the Indian ranks at the coming together of this attacking partnership and anticipation at what the future may hold. But Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri will know better than to make any definitive judgements after one game. How will they cope with when confronted with a similar Zampa-Pandya situation? Will they shelve their attacking instincts in the face of pressure? The story holds much intrigue.
Both teams will have one eye on the weather and the other on their top-orders. Given the high possibility of a truncated clash, neither can afford another early implosion. More so Australia, who'll be left needing to win every remaining game to win the series if India add to Kolkata's celebratory fervour with a victory.
What to expect: Rain. A thunderstorm is forecast for Thursday, expected to hit between 1PM and 3PM, which could delay the start. Curator Sujan Mukherjee said he has prepared a lively pitch and the peeled out covers revealed a track with a good tinge of grass.
That was the case earlier in the year when India managed 315 in response to England's 321 despite the ball seaming around. But those characteristics ought to change given the volume of rain received and the sheer amount of time the pitch has spent sweating under the canopy of the hover cover in the build up to the game.
Team News:
India: Between Chennai and here, Ravindra Jadeja has had time to get reintegrated with a squad he'd only just left. But it's hard to see him force his way back in just yet with the blossoming Chahal-Kuldeep alliance. Ajinkya Rahane and Manish Pandey though will be wary of squandering another chance to make most of their opportunities in this series.
Probable XI: Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (c), Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasrpit Bumrah
Australia: The visitors could be tempted to follow the Indian model and throw in Ashton Agar to partner Adam Zampa. The left-armer's control and ability to take the ball away from all-right Indian top-order makes him an interesting prospect. James Faulkner had a forgettable return to the ODI fold and given the medium-pace and lower-order batting riches in the side, could easily be dispensed with.
Probable XI: David Warner, Hilton Cartwright, Steven Smith (c), Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, James Faulkner/Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa
Did you know?
- Rohit Sharma averages a staggering 107 across formats in international cricket at the Eden Gardens. In his only ODI here, he scored a world record 264 against Sri Lanka.
- Following the duck in Chennai, Virat Kohli's scores against Australia in 2017 read 0, 13, 12, 15, 6, 0
- Thursday's game will be MS Dhoni's 300th for India (He played three games for World XI) and Steven Smith's 100 in the format.
What they said:
"I think I've evolved a lot as a white-ball player. When I first started playing one-day cricket, my first 30-odd games, I played more as a bowler. I had to change a bit there."
- Steven Smith, on the prospect of playing his 100th One-Day International
"It's a big responsibility (for the two of us) to be asked to lead the spin attack but it's also an opportunity for us to learn and grow."
- Kuldeep Yadav is not ruffled at the prospect of replacing the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
It's nearly time for Pujo in Kolkata and the city is abuzz with frenzied activity in preparation for the festival. Attempting to moderate the merrymaking is a depression over the Bay of Bengal, which has brought in a fresh batch of September rain. But it'll take much more than a burst of seasonal showers to dampen Kolkata's spirit of celebration. Try harder, rain.
Amidst the hullabaloo, cricket finds its only connect through dozens of Sourav Ganguly billboards, none of which has anything to do with currently sub-textual ODI series. The timing of the game and the weather situation could see the iconic stadium operate in less-than-peak capacity even for a marquee fixture as this.
For India, the festivities seem to have extended to the field. They have now won each of their last seven games in the format dating back to the tour of West Indies. But Australia had their moments in Chennai, most notably with the ball at the top of the innings, and were potentially a wicket away from setting up a series lead of their own. One defeat doesn't make the World Champions ordinary, nor will one win answer all of India's questions going into the series. But there were enough indications to bother one and please the other.
Wrist spin has already achieved a central, overarching presence in the early series narrative. Australia are not comfortable with it and India had two of the kind - Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal - operating in tandem for the first time in an ODI. In fairness to the visitors, their middle-order had to contend with spin in the face of an inflated required run-rate, one that was not out of their doing and couldn't afford to "knock them around to fielders in the deep" as Steven Smith likes it.
There is excitement in the Indian ranks at the coming together of this attacking partnership and anticipation at what the future may hold. But Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri will know better than to make any definitive judgements after one game. How will they cope with when confronted with a similar Zampa-Pandya situation? Will they shelve their attacking instincts in the face of pressure? The story holds much intrigue.
Both teams will have one eye on the weather and the other on their top-orders. Given the high possibility of a truncated clash, neither can afford another early implosion. More so Australia, who'll be left needing to win every remaining game to win the series if India add to Kolkata's celebratory fervour with a victory.
What to expect: Rain. A thunderstorm is forecast for Thursday, expected to hit between 1PM and 3PM, which could delay the start. Curator Sujan Mukherjee said he has prepared a lively pitch and the peeled out covers revealed a track with a good tinge of grass.
That was the case earlier in the year when India managed 315 in response to England's 321 despite the ball seaming around. But those characteristics ought to change given the volume of rain received and the sheer amount of time the pitch has spent sweating under the canopy of the hover cover in the build up to the game.
Team News:
India: Between Chennai and here, Ravindra Jadeja has had time to get reintegrated with a squad he'd only just left. But it's hard to see him force his way back in just yet with the blossoming Chahal-Kuldeep alliance. Ajinkya Rahane and Manish Pandey though will be wary of squandering another chance to make most of their opportunities in this series.
Probable XI: Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (c), Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasrpit Bumrah
Australia: The visitors could be tempted to follow the Indian model and throw in Ashton Agar to partner Adam Zampa. The left-armer's control and ability to take the ball away from all-right Indian top-order makes him an interesting prospect. James Faulkner had a forgettable return to the ODI fold and given the medium-pace and lower-order batting riches in the side, could easily be dispensed with.
Probable XI: David Warner, Hilton Cartwright, Steven Smith (c), Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, James Faulkner/Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa
Did you know?
- Rohit Sharma averages a staggering 107 across formats in international cricket at the Eden Gardens. In his only ODI here, he scored a world record 264 against Sri Lanka.
- Following the duck in Chennai, Virat Kohli's scores against Australia in 2017 read 0, 13, 12, 15, 6, 0
- Thursday's game will be MS Dhoni's 300th for India (He played three games for World XI) and Steven Smith's 100 in the format.
What they said:
"I think I've evolved a lot as a white-ball player. When I first started playing one-day cricket, my first 30-odd games, I played more as a bowler. I had to change a bit there."
- Steven Smith, on the prospect of playing his 100th One-Day International
"It's a big responsibility (for the two of us) to be asked to lead the spin attack but it's also an opportunity for us to learn and grow."
- Kuldeep Yadav is not ruffled at the prospect of replacing the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Teams:
Australia (From): David Warner, Hilton Cartwright, Steven Smith(c), Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade(w), James Faulkner, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa, Aaron Finch, Kane Richardson, Peter Handscomb, Ashton Agar
India (From): Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli(c), Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja, Lokesh Rahul
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