India vs Australia 2019: How India could lineup for the 2nd ODI

The Indian Cricket Team will face the Australians in the second ODI at Nagpur on 5th of March, 2019. After winning the first match at Hyderabad, India will be upbeat and looking forward to taking a 2-0 lead.

The middle-order contribution has been a major positive for the Indian team as they struggled in this department for a very long time. Dhoni and Jadhav forged a match-winning unbeaten 141 run partnership after India was reduced to 99-4 while chasing a victory target of 237.

In the bowling department, Shami, Kuldeep, and Jadeja played a key role in restricting Australia to 236 runs. Considering these factors, let us look at the possible playing XI for the Indian team in the 2nd ODI.

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#1 Openers - Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma

Dhawan's poor form is hurting the Indian batting contingent

Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma will continue as the opening batsmen for India in the second ODI too. With KL Rahul waiting in the sidelines, India needs their primary opening-duo to the hit some form before trying out Rahul in the later part of the series.

The Delhi opening batsman has been struggling for form in ODIs for the past five months. After his century against Pakistan in the Asia Cup, Shikhar Dhawan has been mediocre in the next 15 ODIs scoring just two half-centuries. However, he will retain his place in the second ODI courtesy of his batting record.

Rohit Sharma will continue to hold his opening position as he has been in good form in ODIs. However, the hit-man struggled against the Australian pacers in the first game as scored just 37 of 66 balls. He would look forward to scoring big in the 2nd ODI.

K.L. Rahul, despite scoring a couple of good knocks in T20Is, will have to wait for his ODI chance.

#2 Middle Order batsman - Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu and M.S. Dhoni (Wicket-keeper)

Dhoni is in impressive form in ODIs this year

The Indian team is slowly getting settled in the middle-order after testing multiple options in the fourth and fifth position. While Ambati Rayudu has been consistent at No.4, Dhoni has been a revelation in the three-down slot.

The Indian Wicket-keeper has scored 51, 55*, 87*, 48*, 1 and 59* from his six-innings in the ODIs in 2019. Ambati Rayudu is also in good form scoring a match-winning 90 in the last ODI against New Zealand.

With Virat Kohli's daunting presence in the one-down position, the Indian middle-order is suddenly looking strong with Dhoni and Rayudu hitting their purple patch at the right moment.

India will look to continue with the same middle-order trio throughout the series as this is one department where India faltered multiple times after the era of Yuvraj and Raina.

#3 All-rounders - Kedhar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar, and Ravindra Jadeja

Vijay Shankar will get one final chance to impress before the World Cup

The Indian team went into the first ODI with a surprising three all-rounders, Jadeja, Vijay Shankar, and Kedhar Jadhav, which provided them a long batting line-up.

In fact, the long batting lineup took the pressure of the middle-order batsmen helping them to chase the target easily.

Kedhar Jadhav and Ravindra Jadeja had a brilliant match as they played a key part in India's win.

While Jadeja conceded a meager 33 runs from his 10 overs, Kedhar Jadhav played a Man of the Match knock of unbeaten 81. The part-time spinner has been impressive with his bowling too as he took 1-31 from seven overs.

The only weak link in the all-rounder quota is Vijay Shankar. The Tamil Nadu cricketer just bowled three overs and conceded 22 runs.

He is in the squad because of Hardik's Pandya untimely injury. The Indian contingent will look to give him another chance to justify his place in the playing XI as India needs back-up options for every slot.

#4 Bowlers - Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, and Jasprit Bumrah

Shami displayed high-class bowling in the 1st ODI

The Indian bowlers had done a splendid job in the 1st ODI to restrict Australia to 236 in the first ODI. The Indian bowling trio of Shami, Kuldeep, and Bumrah, together scalped six of the seven wickets India took.

Especially, Shami's extraordinary bowling put a stranglehold on Australia in the initial and middle-overs.

While Bumrah continued his impressive run against Finch, Shami scalped the wicket of Maxwell and Turner at the crucial juncture. Kuldeep took Khawaja's and Handscomb's wickets.

India will look to continue with the same bowling trio for the 2nd ODI too as they need to zero down the bowling combination before the World Cup.

With Bhuvneswar Kumar coming into the squad for the third ODI and Chahal already in the squad, India will look to seal the series quickly before trying out few other combinations.