The last time India took on Australia, both teams scored at more than 6 runs per over for fun. The ODI rules at the start of 2015 were highly in favor of batsmen and the scores that were produced in the 7 match tournament had the ICC thinking about the ruled.
Fast forward an year and India travel to Australia for a 5 match series with new ODI rules but not much has changed as both teams look equally capable of scoring big. Australia chased down yet another 300+ target as India looked helpless on the field. Here are 5 things we learnt from Australia’s victory at Brisbane:
1. Rohit Sharma has evolved:
Not long ago, the Mumbai prodigy was in and out of the Indian team due to lack of consistency. But the last two years has seen Rohit Sharma tear apart teams at least in the sub-continent. His skill and technique were never questioned but his twin hundreds in this series have shown that the two time double century scorer has learnt a lot about making his starts count. With two man of the matches in two games, Rohit can only hope for an Indian victory as it will be hard for his to better his start to this year.
2. Bailey loves India:
George Bailey was one of the most prolific scored in the last India Australia series but lost his place in the side in recent times. He got a chance in the middle order for the Aussies this series and he has taken it with both hands. Still to be dismissed in the series, Bailey backed his match winning century at Perth three days ago. He looked comfortable right from the first ball and accelerated at the right time to put pressure on the Indian bowlers as he made a target in excess of 300 look simple. He surely loves to play against the Men in Blue irrespective of the venue.
3. Bowlers need some help or need to improve?
It is just astonishing to see the way these two teams find scoring a 300+ total so easy. India started off well in both the games and were on course to score around 330 but ended up around the 310 mark on both occasions. Both pitches were slightly different but it made no difference to the home side who strolled away to a 7 wicket victory at Brisbane. The bowlers from both teams need to improve on their skills or should at least be given a lee way to stop these enormous totals being achieved without even breaking a sweat.
4. Australia can seriously break the record:
The victory at Brisbane gave Australia their 16th consecutive ODI victory, a feat bettered only by Sri Lanka who have 18 consecutive victories. The present Australian team has great balance with the bat but is a bit low on experience in the bowling department. They are surely one of the strongest teams in the world at the moment and India will surely find it hard to win a game in this series judging by the way things have gone so far. Australia in this 5 match series are serious contenders to break the world record for the most consecutive ODI victories.
5. India and MS should try and change things:
India has not done too bad in the series so far but have completely nothing to show for it. They won the toss on both occasions put on a 300+ target on both occasions but still ended up losing on both occasions. It will not be easy for MS Dhoni and his team to come up with a plan to knock Australia off this winning streak but they should try and change things and change them quickly if they are to have any chance at winning a game in the series. If we see the more of the same from the visitors, Australia will be more than happy to keep knocking off the scores and will end up winning the series.