Five Positives From India v Australia Bilateral Series
Oct 15, 2017 at 5:55 PM
The limited overs bilateral series between India and Australia concluded in the same fashion as the Test leg – the Border- Gavaskar Trophy – ended. India once again proved to be the superior side in home conditions and thoroughly dominated the Australians.
The five-match ODI series saw India lift the trophy with a 4-1 margin while the T20 series ended in a tie as the decider in Hyderabad ended up getting abandoned due to bad weather.
Most of the action took place in the ODI series. The T20 series was bland more or less. But, overall, it was series with a good amount of positives for both sides to take home.
Young Spin Twins Flourish
For the last 3-4 years, India hasn’t seen the emergence of any world class spinner except Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. The two took care of all the spin bowling responsibility in all three formats. The presence of leg-spinner Amit Mishra and Axar Patel was felt from time to time, but the two never showed enough potential to become first choice spinners.
But, the just concluded series has seen the might of Ashwin and Jadeja get challenged in a way that can prove to be a headache for both the selectors and the two superstar spinners in future. Kuldeep Yadav (9 wickets in 7 matches) and Yuzvendra Chahal (7 wickets in 7 matches) were at the best of their game and proved to be real match winners for India in both the ODIs and the T20Is.
Hardik Pandya – The All – Rounder:
Hardik Pandya continued to grab the limelight and take strides towards proving the fact that he would probably become the world-class seam bowling all-rounder Indian was yearning for all these years.
After a successful time in Sri Lanka, Pandya extended his good form with match-winning shows in Chennai (83 & 2/28) and Indore (78 & 1/58). His performance with the ball was also highly impressive, touching 140kmph regularly and picking up crucial wickets at intervals.
Bumrah & Bhuvi Keep Shami – Yadav Out
As stated by Anil Kumble as well as Ravi Shastri on previous occasions, India’s current bench strength is the strongest they possess in their history. This privilege provides great options for the skipper and selectors to pick the best XI and also creates a healthy competition for places in the team.
While the young twins are posing a challenge to Ashwin and Jadeja, the fast bowling duo of Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have kept Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Shami out of the XI with the help of brilliant performances on a regular basis.
Both Bumrah and Bhuvi have formed a successful partnership and have contributed with both the new ball and in the death overs, making it quite visible that India’s bowling future is highly exciting.
Nathan Coulter Nile and Jason Behrendorff Place Ashes Bet
The Australia may have had a tough time, but they surely will be happy to see a couple of positive bowling options emerge ahead of the Ashes. Seam bowling all-rounder Nathan Coulter-Nile and left arm fast bowler Jason Behrendorff, through their performances in this series, have given selectors two really good fast bowling options before the Ashes. Coulter-Nile was Australia’s most effective fast bowler in the ODI series, and Behrendorff marked his entry to the international scene with a match-winning performance in the second T20I at Guwahati. With CA sweating over the fitness of its frontline fast bowler, these two can be the perfect backups they would need in case any of the star names fail to gain full fitness.
David Warner – The Limited Overs Skipper
Half Australian and half Hyderabadi is how David Warner is known among Indian fans. His success in the IPL with the Sunrisers Hyderabad has earned a huge chunk of fans and also, more importantly, strong leadership credentials.
His quality as a skipper is vastly underrated even though he has successfully taken charge in the absence of Steve Smith. His captaincy skills were once again appreciable when he led his side to a convincing victory in the 2nd T20I at Guwahati to square the three-match series after going down 1-0.
After watching such examples of his leadership, it only makes fans and experts wonder when will Australia finally split captaincy responsibility and let Warner lead the limited overs side.