Aussies in a spin

Australia is struggling against India’s new spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal and the host would like to ensure that it doesn’t get any easy as the series progresses. 

Yadav is proving to be a mystery for the Aussies, who have also struggled to pick Chahal’s sliders. The visitor was seen taking the help of local wrist spinners to find tricks to counter the Indian bowlers.

While Kerala’s KK Jiyas helped it before the Chennai ODI, two local club bowlers -- Ashutosh Shibram and Rupak Guha -- provided some practice to the Aussie batsmen, here. 

Chasing a revised target of 164 in 21 overs in the rain-interrupted first ODI, Aussies was 35 for four before Glenn Maxwell’s power-hitting raised hopes of an unlikely win. 

But Chahal and Yadav went about their task meticulously to seal a 26-run win by the D/L method. 

The visitor has a bigger threat to contend with in Hardik Pandya who steered India to a respectable 281 for seven from a precarious 87/5. 

Pandya hit another hat-trick of sixes -- four times in International cricket -- as he smashed 83 from 66 balls in a match-turning 118-run partnership with MS Dhoni (79 from 88).

Pandya’s rise since IPL-2015 has been remarkable. From being a careless hitter to restraining his shots in the V, Pandya has matured as a player. 

He has also emerged as the utility medium-pacer all-rounder that India has been searching for long. His knock in Chennai not only seized the momentum but had a demoralising effect on Australia’s leading spinner Adam Zampa who was left ruing his “lengths”. 

It remains to be seen how the Australian spin resources challenge the formidable Indian batting line up. The visitor has three part-time tweakers in Glenn Maxwell, Travis Head and Ashton Agar.

“We have enough variation in our attack but it’s about executing your plans,” Zampa said. 

It is also a challenging time for skipper Steve Smith, who needs to lead from the front. David Warner also must fire to set the foundation. Looking at Hilton Cartwright’s plight in the top order in Chennai, it won’t be a bad ploy to hand the opening slot to Travis Head, who had a promising 65 in their 103-run win in the warm up match against Board President’s XI. 

Should Australia move Head to the opening slot, either Glenn Maxwell or Marcus Stoinis would be in line to fill the number four slot where it has already experimented six players since George Bailey was dropped earlier this year.

Known to thrive on its all-rounders, the Aussies will also look for significant contributions from the likes of James Faulkner, Stoinis and Maxwell. As for Indian batting, it’s really a healthy sign that its lower-order is living up to the challenge after the failure of top-order. If Dhoni is back in his elements, it was also pleasing to see Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s cameo of 32 not out of 30. 

India would just hope for a strong start from stop gap opener Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma while skipper Kohli will also look to return among runs.

Anil Kumble 6-12 vs West Indies on November 27, 1993 

Ravindra Jadeja 4-33 vs England on October 25, 2011 

Ravi Shastri 4-38 vs Pakistan on February 18, 1987 

Saqlain Mushtaq 4-53 vs Sri Lanka on May 27, 1997 

Venkatapathy Raju 4-58 vs West Indies on November 5, 1994