India vs Australia 2nd ODI: 3 reasons why Australia starts as the favourites

The Australian cricket team came out all guns blazing and annihilated India in the first ODI of the three match series on January 14, 2020. The Kangaroos fired in all three departments of the game and handed India a thrashing at home.

And now, they have the chance of beating India again in an ODI home series. The last time when Australia visited Indian shores in 2019, they beat the ‘Men in Blue’ 2-3, and they have the chance of doing an encore this time around as well.

In this article, let us look at three reasons why Australia starts as the favorites for the second ODI.

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#3. India’s middle order conundrum

If Kohli drops himself to No.4, he will have lesser chances to control the match.

At the start of the series, the Indian team had a seemingly good headache to have. The trio of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Shikhar Dhawan were in good form with the bat, and as a result, it was tough to leave out any of them out of the playing eleven. So, skipper Kohli decided to include all the three in the playing eleven for the first ODI. Now, this could well prove to be detrimental for India.

Accommodating all three of them in the line-up, means that the skipper Virat Kohli has to bat at No.4. Kohli has been the world’s batsman at the No.3 slot and his numbers reveal the same. In the 180 innings that he has batted at one down in ODIs, he has scored 9509 runs at a colossal average of 63.39.

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Now, if Kohli sacrifices his position in the batting order and comes in at No.4, it means that he will have lesser chances to control the proceedings of the match. Also, Shreyas Iyer, who was an excellent find for the No.4 slot gets pushed down to No.5.

This presents a problem for India, something that was visible in the first ODI.

#2. The form of the Australian openers

David Warner has been in riveting form in ODI cricket.

David Warner and Aaron Finch gave the Indian bowling attack a beat down that will be hard to forget. The way they approached the target, turning the match into an absolute no contest will certainly give Kohli and his men a lot of headaches.

Warner has been in terrific form in ODI cricket right from his return from the infamous ‘sandpaper gate’ scandal. The diminutive batting dynamite scored a staggering 647 runs during the 2019 World Cup, at an average of 71.89, and now has started 2020 with a bang by scoring a whirlwind 128* in the first ODI.

And, to complement him, he has the skipper himself, Aaron Finch. Finch’s 110 acted as the perfect foil for Warner, as the openers went about chasing the target with ridiculous ease. Finch too, has been in excellent form in ODI cricket. In 2019, Finch scored 1141 runs at an average of 51.86, including 4 hundreds and 6 fifties. If these two men continue from they left off in the first ODI, then Australia will gain the upper hand in the second ODI as well.

#1. The Australian pace attack

The Australian team has an extremely potent pace attack that can rattle any batting line up.

The Australian team has an extremely potent pace attack that can rattle any batting line-up. There is the uncanny Mitchell Starc, who with his toe crushing yorkers and well directed bouncers can create doubts in the minds of even the very best of batsmen.

Then, there is Pat Cummins, who with his explosive pace and his ability to extract extra bounce off the surface complements Starc very well. Then, there is Kane Richardson, who with his subtle variations in pace and length is a tricky bowler to handle especially at the death. And these three men played a pivotal role in restricting India to a modest total of 255.

Starc took 3/56, including the important wickets of Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer. Cummins took out Shikhar Dhawan and the explosive Rishabh Pant, and Richardson accounted for Ravindra Jadeja. If the Australian pacers can strike early, then they will definitely give Australia the edge in the second ODI as well.