India vs Australia 2019: 6 important takeaways from the ODI series

#3. Khawaja and Handscomb Cement Their Spots

The success of Handscomb and Khawaja is very heartening for Aussies before the World Cup

While the absence of Warner and Smith had rendered the Aussie batting line-up weak, equally troubling was the lack of any other batsman scoring big. Too often, contributions from the lower order were needed to prop up the innings.

But in this series, two of their batsmen were able to come of age in ODI cricket and provide the much-needed run-scoring strength.

Usman Khawaja is among the most elegant and stylish batsmen around and has plenty of good centuries in his Test career to prove this. But in ODI cricket, he was still finding his feet at the beginning of the series.

But the stellar run scoring from him in these five matches have proven his worth. The stroke-play produced by Khawaja was exquisite. The way he dealt with spinners was very impressive for someone who has struggled against spin in the past. Also, the manner in which he built his innings showed the perfect aptitude for this format.

Peter Handscomb, on the other hand, is similar to Steve Smith in some ways. He is a nuggety batsman who loves to use his feet against spinners. With a combination of resourceful batting and clever shot-making, he emerged as a highly-dependable batsman for the middle order.

These two have booked their spots for the World Cup. With Warner and Smith likely to come back, this Australian line-up would be quite potent.