Australia tour of India 2013

Teams:
India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Ishant Sharma

Australia (Playing XI): Nic Maddinson, Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, George Bailey(c), Glenn Maxwell, Brad Haddin(w), Moises Henriques, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Clint McKay, Xavier Doherty

Bailey: 'We had a good training session in Mumbai and few of the boys played the World T20 League. We came here a couple of days ago and have practised well. T20 is challenging and it is about playing our best cricket more often. Nic Maddinson is on debut, Haddin, Doherty and McKay come in.'

Dhoni: 'We are looking to bowl first. It looks like a decent track, so we will see how much they score. It has been a batting paradise here so we can expect lot of runs. We have to improve our death bowling and there are other areas we can improve upon. Yuvraj looks leaner and fitter, thats good. No need to tell the way he bats. Mishra, Shami, Rayudu and Unadkat miss out.'
India have won the toss and have opted to field


Ind
vs
Aus
Match: Australia tour of India 2013 - (Oct 10 - Nov 02) - Only T20I
Venue: Rajkot | Date: Oct 10, 2013 Ind Time 19:30PM
Toss:India have won the toss and have opted to field

Yuvraj Singh is back! Those gorgeous heaves over mid-wicket while down on one knee, that fit, athletic body and that fire in the eyes – it seemed like Yuvraj Singh had turned back time 10 years. He marked his comeback into the Indian team with an incredible 77 off 35 balls to seal an unlikely win for India in the only T20I against Australia in Rajkot.
Chasing a mammoth 202, India had gotten into jail by losing wickets at regular intervals. Then came the saviours – Yuvraj and MS Dhoni – and rescued the team with an unbeaten 102-run partnership off 51 balls for the fifth wicket. As a result, India won by six wickets with two balls to spare.

India’s chase began on a jittery note, losing Rohit Sharma in the second over. Clint McKay bowled full outside off-stump and got it to seam away. Sharma wet for a wild waft and handed a simple catch to the ‘keeper. The wicket was set up by Shane Watson’s brilliant first over in which he troubled Sharma with similar deliveries.

Shikhar Dhawan (32 off 19 balls) and Suresh Raina (19 off 13 balls) held fort for a while, before the latter was done in by a short ball from Nathan Coulter-Nile. Dhawan went on for a while, feasting on the short balls served to him. He departed when Haddin stumped him off Xavier Doherty in the ninth over.

Virat Kohli went back into the hut after grafting 29 runs off 22 balls, giving McKay his second wicket. With 102 runs needed off 59 balls, MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh came together in the middle. Like they have done innumerable times, the duo complemented each other to put India’s chase back on track.

While Dhoni rotated the strike, Yuvraj went big. The comeback man exhibited his trademark elegant heaves on the on-side. McKay was clubbed for two consecutive sixes and a four in the 14th over before Coulter-Nile was hit for two graceful fours on the off-side. Then, in the 17th over, Yuvraj played the shot of the match. James Faulkner pitched one on good length on middle and off-stump line. Yuvraj picked it ad lofted it straight over the bowler’s head. It landed just behind the sightscreen and brought up a 25-ball 50 for the left-hander.

Earlier, having put in to bat by India, the Australian openers got off to a rollicking start, scoring boundaries at will. Such was their onslaught that MS Dhoni called upon four bowlers to bowl the first four overs. The left-right combo put up 50 runs in 4.1 overs.

After the powerplay, the visitors were 74/1, with 14 fours and a six. Debutant Nick Maddinson was the man dismissed, clean bowled by a quick and full Bhuvneshwar Kumar delivery. His partner Aaron Finch, however, carried on his stupendous T20 form – in his last T20I match he slammed 156 against England – to post 89 in 52 balls.

Finch was in destructive mode from the first over itself, when he cover-drove Bhuvneshwar on the up for a four. In the third over, off Ashwin, he played a square-cut, a back-foot punch and another cover-drive to fetch three more fours.

After Maddinson, though, Finch struggled for support at the other end. Shane Watson walked back for six, after being adjudged lbw off a Vinay Kumar length delivery. Skipper George Bailey was caught in the deep for a duck, giving Vinay a double-strike in the eighth over.
Then, Glenn Maxwell walked out in the middle. After playing a couple of quiet balls, he unleashed the big shots, against Ashwin, creaming him for a four and three sixes in the 10th over. The ball went sailing over long-on and midwicket. Ashwin gave away 41 runs in his two overs and didn’t bowl again.

Maxwell’s cameo ended at 27 (13 balls) when Ishant Sharma took a fine balancing catch on the rope off Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling. Brad Haddin’s (5) stay at the wicket was brief, as he gave an easy catch to Dhoni, trying to cut a Bhuvneshwar delivery that was too close to the body.

Wickets falling around him didn’t bother Finch one bit and he continued to lord over the Indian bowlers. Ishant was bludgeoned for three fours in the 16th over. His brilliant knock ended in an anticlimax when Vinay took a return catch in the next over. The medium pacer was the pick of the Indian bowlers with three wickets for 26 runs in four overs.

Bhuvneshwar (4-0-35-3) and Jadeja (4-0-23-1) were the other wicket-takers for India.
Man of the Match: Yuvraj Singh for his 35-ball 77 not-out (8 fours, 5 sixes)[/img]

What
First match of the seven-ODI series between India and Australia
When
Sunday, October 13, 2013 at 13:30 IST (08:00 GMT)
Where
MCA Stadium, Pune
The Teams
India
The Men in Blue welcomed the new international season in style, chasing 202 in the only T20I, and hence underlining their tag of favourites ahead of the ODI series. Although the format will change, expect MS Dhoni to lead the same XI in Pune that fielded in Rajkot.
The top-order that faltered a bit in the T20 will have more time to build the innings and hence, make a more telling contribution. Virat Kohli, who batted at 4, is expected to return to his usual No.3 position. It will be interesting to see whether Yuvraj Singh will continue to bat at 5 or Suresh Raina will return to that spot, allowing the senior left-hander to go back to his regular No.4 position.
Australia
Not often do you end up on the losing side after posting 200 in a 20-over innings. Australia will have to gather themselves quickly after the T20 bashing. While there’s not much to pick in Australia’s batting performance, they can certainly improve on their slog overs. Instead of upping the ante, they allowed the Indian bowlers to bring their run-rate down from over 12 to under nine in the last five overs. A curious decision made by the team management was to bring Nic Maddinson to India for a solitary T20 game. After his quickfire 34 off 16, they would be wishing he was part of the ODI squad too.
Again, it will be harsh to judge the bowlers on the basis of that run-fest. With the amount of recent experience of playing in India, expect the Aussie bowlers to come back well in the ODI series. Shane Watson will be the key.
Key Players
India
Yuvraj is currently the toast of the team and he will play a key role once again in the middle-order. But in a 50-over match, it is often the top-order batsmen that are expected to make big contributions. Virat Kohli, a virtual stranger to failure in the last three years, will be itching to score big.
Australia
Aaron Finch is in the most destructive form of his life. After having warmed up with the brilliant 89 (52 balls), he has set a high bar of expectation for himself. With Shane Watson, Finch will be a key for Australia.
Stats
India – Australia ODI results
Mts India won Australia won No Result
Overall 109 37 64 8
in India 45 18 23 4
in Australia 40 10 29 1
at neutral venues 24 9 12 3

Performance in 2013
Mts Won Lost No Result Win%
India 22 17 5 0 77.27
Australia 18 10 5 4 55.55
Trivia
Among all major teams India have the best winning record in ODIs in 2013. Australia are second.
Yuvraj Singh needs 38 runs to complete 1000 ODI runs against Australia.
No one has hit more sixes than MS Dhoni in ODIs on Indian soil – 86.
Squads

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Ambati Rayudu, Mohammed Shami, Jaydev Unadkat

Australia: George Bailey (Captain), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Xavier Doherty, James Faulkner, Callum Ferguson, Aaron Finch, Brad Haddin, Moises Henriques, Phil Hughes, Mitchell Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Clint McKay, Adam Voges, Shane Watson.[/img]

Report: India vs Australia – 2nd ODI
Rohit Sharma’s (141 off 123 balls) third ODI century, Shikhar Dhawan’s (95 off 86 balls) game-changing knock and Virat Kohli’s (100 off 52 balls) brutal assault – that produced the fastest ODI century by an Indian – gave India a historic win against Australia in the second ODI in Jaipur. The Men in Blue chased down a mammoth 360 – the highest target chased by India in ODIs. With a nine-wicket win, India drew level 1-1 with Australia with five matches to go in the series.
Dhawan and Sharma gave India just the start they needed. After surviving the accurate and quick opening bowling of Mitchell Johnson and Clint McKay, the duo settled down nicely on the batting track to put up 176 runs in 26.1 overs.
Dhawan got a couple of reprieves – he was dropped by ‘keeper Brad Haddin on 18 and survived a close stumping chance on 42 – and capitalised on the slice of luck. The left-hander, who has a penchant for the pull and the hook, negated Australia’s short-ball tactics by scoring fluently on the leg-side. To fuller and wider balls, Dhawan scored through the cover area by bringing out the back foot punches and drives. The Australians kept pitching it short and Shikhar kept playing his favourite shot – the pull. He messed with their bowling strategy that had worked well for them in the first ODI. That helped Rohit and Virat play their natural games.
Rohit Sharma, after warming up with typically elegant strokes, dropped anchor when Shikhar got into the destructive mode. He was sensible and patient throughout his innings, living up to his talent. He caressed the ball, rather than bashing it, and there was nothing lazy about his elegance. He paced his innings very well and batted with a calm mind.
Rohit lost Shikhar in the 27th over and was joined by Virat Kohli, who wasted no time in ensuring that India were abreast with the required run-rate. He took over where Shikhar had left – a four through midwicket and a six over long-off to Faulkner were followed by two more hits for maximum off Xavier Doherty and McKay.
With 156 runs needed in 20 overs and nine wickets in hand, the Indian batsmen went into T20 mode. Virat, in particular, was in a rather murderous mood. He unleashed an array of lofted drives and heaves to fetch his seven sixes. He also used one of his favourite shots – the inside-out drive – with great effect.
Earlier, the run-fest started when the Aussie openers, Aaron Finch and Phil Hughes, got their team off to a solid start after their skipper won the toss. During their partnership of 74 in 15.2 overs, the duo complemented each other. The left-right combination worked well to disturb the bowlers’ line as Hughes was the perfect ice to Finch’s fire.
When on 26, Finch got a lifeline as Yuvraj dropped a fairly simple catch at point. The batsman pulled, punched and drove his way to his third consecutive fifty of this tour. He brought up the half-century with a six off Vinay Kumar over the square-leg region. On the next ball, thanks to Raina’s athleticism and presence of mind, a direct-hit found Finch short of his crease.
Hughes continued to play the grafter, now in the company of Shane Watson. As the man at the other end dealt in boundaries, Hughes kept the scoreboard ticking over and scored a sedate 83 off 103 balls. Watson, on the other hand, made merry against the Indian spinners, carting them over the midwicket fence. Of his six fours and three sixers, only one came against a pacer – Vinay. Ashwin, Yuvraj and Jadeja shared the brunt of the others. He was eventually dismissed by Vinay in the 32nd over, caught at long-on.
It was now Bailey’s turn to join the bash and he came in with a more attacking mindset than he did in the first ODI. The accumulator took a backseat as the striker took centre stage. He was particularly harsh on Ishant Sharma, smashing him for five boundaries and a six. Jadeja was pummeled for a couple of biggies and a four. The Australian skipper toyed with the Indian bowlers in the slog overs to bring up 122 runs in the last 10 overs. He finished with an unbeaten 92 off just 50 balls.
The individual scores of the top-five Aussie batsmen read 50, 83, 59, 92* and 53. In the process, the Indians dropped two catches and conceded at least 15 extra runs in the field.
The Indian bowlers were all over the place. Vinay Kumar’s (9-0-73-2) ploy of banging it short to the Aussie top-order batsmen at his modest bowling speed backfired. Ishant Sharma (9-0-70-0) struggled to get his yorker right and treated the batsmen with a flurry of full-tosses. R Ashwin (8-0-50-1) looked lost and confused as he tried too many things at the same time. He lacked any kind of rhythm – either bowled too short or over-pitched – and invited big shots off him. The part-timers – Ravindra Jadeja (10-0-72-0) and Yuvraj Singh (4-0-35-0) – were feasted on. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (10-0-54-0) was the only Indian bowler who came out of the Aussie innings with respectable figures.
Scorecard
Man of the Match: Rohit Sharma for his 141 off 123 balls, including 17 fours and four sixes[/img]

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Oct 19 - Sat India v Australia, 3rd ODI --------- 13:30 - Punjab Cricket Association Stadium Mohali

Teams:
India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Ishant Sharma

Australia (Playing XI): Aaron Finch, Phillip Hughes, Shane Watson, George Bailey(c), Glenn Maxwell, Adam Voges, Brad Haddin(w), James Faulkner, Mitchell Johnson, Clint McKay, Xavier Doherty

INDIA
vs
AUSTRALIA

Match : Star Sports ODI Series - 3rd ODI
Venue : Mohali | Date : Oct 19, 2013 India Time 13:30PM
Toss : Australia have won the toss and have opted to field