"We have this conversation in all formats now" - Aakash Chopra on India's bowling conundrum after AUS vs IND 2025 ODIs

Former opener Aakash Chopra was not convinced with Team India's bowling combination in the Sydney ODI against Australia, although the Men in Blue won the contest convincingly. Admitting that playing six proper bowlers makes the attack more potent, he pointed out that one frontline bowler gets under-bowled in the process, which was the case with Axar Patel in Sydney.

India hammered Australia by nine wickets in the third and final ODI of the series in Sydney on Saturday, October 25 to avoid a 3-0 whitewash. Batting first after winning the toss, the Aussies were held to 236. India chased down the target in 38.3 overs to register a convincing win.

The visitors made two changes to their playing XI for the dead rubber, bringing in left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav and right-arm pacer Prasidh Krishna. India thus, went into the game with six frontline bowling options. While the Men in Blue's bowling attack excelled in the game, Chopra expressed reservations over India going in with a six-man bowling attack. He told ESPNcricinfo:

"They will be [more penetrative], but the flip side of the same story is one guy will be under-bowled. That happened with Axar Patel in this case. He was bowling really well - five overs, 17 runs and a wicket and then he doesn't bowl for the next 20 overs."

The 48-year-old added that discussion over India's bowling attack would reduce significantly once all-rounder Hardik Pandya is back in action after recovering from injury. He elaborated:

"In your ideal ODI setup, you've got a Hardik Pandya. He doesn't really make your bowling resources inferior. He gives you fair number of overs in both formats and therefore you never feel the pitch.

"Nitish Kumar Reddy, not having gotten enough opportunities yet as a batter or a bowler, we have this conversation in all formats now. This conversation will not come to the fore if Hardik Pandya was there. Then, you have proper six bowling options without really compromising on your batting depth," Chopra concluded.

Pandya was ruled out of the ongoing white-ball tour of Australia after he picked up a quadriceps injury, which also forced him to miss the Asia Cup 2025 final against Pakistan in Dubai last month.

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Harshit Rana starred for Team India in Sydney ODI against Australia

Under the scanner following his poor performance in the second one-dayer in Adelaide, young Team India pacer Harshit Rana made amends with an impressive four-wicket haul in Sydney on Saturday. The right-arm pacer registered figures of 4-39 from 8.4 overs as the Aussies were bowled out for a below par total.

Off spinner Washington Sundar also starred with 2-44 from his 10 overs, while four other bowlers chipped in with one wicket each. Kuldeep and Sundar were the only two bowlers who completed their quota of 10 overs.