Team Indiawicketkeeper batter KL Rahul (AP Image)
Several India players including Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Ravichandran Ashwin performed well in first 2 ODIs against Australia.
With the plan of testing bench strength working well for India in the first two ODIs against Australia, the team management now faces the challenge as to who they leave out on the bench considering a few first-choice stars who were rested from the first two ODIs will now be available for selection.
Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Ravichandran Ashwin performed well in the absence of Rohit, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj and it’s going to be a problem of plenty for the captain and coach to select the best XI with the senior set to return for the third ODI in Rajkot.
Iyer slammed a century in the second ODI while Suryakumar hit back-to-back fifties. The return of Kohli and Pandya now leaves the team management in a difficult spot.
KL Rahul, who led the side in the first two ODIs against Australia, feels that selection is something that’s the headache of captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid.
India vs Australia 2nd ODI Highlights
“As players, it’s not really our decision to make. It is the headache of the coach and Rohit when he comes back. Our jobs, roles are very clear. Everyone who gets picked in the XI, has a job to do. Sitting out can be hard after scoring a lot of runs but everyone has been through that and I think it always be that way,” Rahul said in the post-match presentation.
Meanwhile, the Indian batters put up an impressive show in the second ODI as centuries from Shubman Gill and Iyer while fifties from Rahul and Suryakumar helped India score a mammoth 399/5 in 50 overs.
At the toss, Rahul was looking to bowl first and after the match, he asserted that they weren’t expecting the ball to spin much in the second half.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja shared six wickets to dismantle Australia for 217.
“When I saw the wicket (earlier), I didn’t think it would spin that much. Putting 400 on the board gives you confidence,” Rahul added.
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India dropped a few catches in the ongoing series but Rahul feels that travelling constantly to different stadium sometimes make it difficult for players to get used to the lights.
“We have dropped a few catches, but when you are traveling every second day and playing at a different ground is getting used to the lights. A lot of guys have been playing for a long time. The coaches are doing their best to keep the guys fit. Sometimes these errors happen. The commitment is always there, we’ll learn from it, brush it off and get better in the next game,” he added.
The wicketkeeper-batter talked about whether the senior players will return to the XI for the final ODI.
“Nothing is discussed, but guys coming back will want to make it count. With the World Cup only a couple of weeks away, guys will want to get into it. They need to get used to the challenges, they will be keen to get back on to the field,” he concluded.
