India vs Australia 2020, 1st ODI: 3 observations from India's crushing loss in Mumbai 

India were beaten comprehensively by Australia
India were beaten comprehensively by Australia

India faced Australia at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai for the 1st ODI in a three-match ODI series. The visitors won the toss on a good batting wicket and quite expectedly decided to bowl first.

The hosts made a good start as after the end 27 overs, India were 134 for the loss of 1 wicket. KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan had stitched together a 121-run partnership before the Karnataka batsman was dismissed for 47 runs from 61 balls. Virat Kohli came out at number four and that's when everything went downhill for India.

The hosts lost both Dhawan (74 runs off 91 balls) and Kohli (16 runs off 14 balls) quickly and India could never recover after that. Every batsman after that played small cameos and Australia bowled out the home side for a mere 255. It was a below-par total from India's perspective because of the dew factor, which played its part in the evening and the visitors dismantled India's bowling attack.

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Chasing an average score, the away side won the match by 10 wickets, with David Warner scoring 128 runs from 112 balls, while skipper Aaron Finch making 110 runs from 114 balls. It was a pretty easy win for Australia and here, we are going to take a look at the three talking points from the game.


#3 India's batting experiment fails

KL Rahul batted at number 3
KL Rahul batted at number 3

Virat Kohli said before the match that he would be willing to bat at number four, something that happened in the match, which meant Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma opened the batting, while KL Rahul batted at number three. It was an experiment that failed, although Rahul and Dhawan were able to stitch together a big partnership.

Rahul did play well, but letting your best batsman Kohli bat lower down the order makes little sense. Also, in the context of the game, KL Rahul and Dhawan batted really slowly and their strike rates on the day tell the whole story.

Indian team management needs to make a tough decision and drop one of Dhawan or Rahul, or the latter could play at number 4 because Kohli should always bat at number three, as he is a match-winner in that position. Will it happen? Only time will tell!

#2 Australia bowled India out of the match

Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc were incredible on the day
Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc were incredible on the day

The credit of bowling India out for a below-par score on a good batting wicket has to go to the Australian bowling department as they not only kept the Indian batting contingent quiet but also made sure that they were picking up wickets regularly.

Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins were brilliant with the new ball as they didn't give the Indian batsmen any room to work with and were very disciplined. Starc displaced India's best batsman in 2019 for 10 runs and after they broke the KL Rahul-Dhawan partnership, the visitors took the game away with their spin bowling in the middle overs.

Both Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa bowled economical spells, while Kane Richardson, Starc, and Cummins picked apart India's lower middle order. Starc was Australia's best bowler on the day as he picked up three wickets, giving 56 runs from 10 overs. Richardson and Cummins chipped in with two wickets each, while Agar and Zampa picked up one apiece.

#1 David Warner and Aaron Finch outline Australia's fearless approach

<a href='https://www.sportskeeda.com/player/david-warner' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'>David Warner</a> took the Indian bowling to the cleaners
David Warner took the Indian bowling to the cleaners

Chasing 256 on a Wankhede wicket could have proved to be quite tricky but from the get-go, it looked like the Australian openers had a clear plan of being positive. Both Warner and Finch were aggressive in their batting approach as they took on India's premier fast bowlers - Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.

In the first powerplay, Australia managed to score 84 runs and that made an easy chase even easier. Still, Warner and Finch didn't go into their shells, instead, they took on the Indian spinners and were in quite a hurry to finish things off, which they did.

Bumrah gave away 50 runs from 7 overs, a sight that one rarely sees, while Shami was also taken to the cleaners along with Shardul Thakur. This chase outlined Australia's newfound fearless approach which they have adopted after a miserable 2018 and we saw the same in the 2019 cricket World Cup.

The visitors have started the series brilliantly and now hold the upper hand.

Also read: India v Australia 2020 | Visitors annihilate Men in Blue to pick up record 10-wicket victory

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Edited by rehaan díaz