Shastri suggests Rohit to play the aggressor at No 6
Rohit Sharma’s decision to bat in the middle order in the Adelaide and Brisbane Tests, has failed to yield the desired results for the Indian team in the Border-Gavaskar series so far.
India could manage only 255 runs before getting wrapped up and setting a mediocre target for Australia in the first ODI of the three-match series at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Earlier, skipper Aaron Finch had won the toss and had decided to bowl. The Australian bowlers proved the captain right by bundling out the Men in Blue in 49. 1 overs.
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Mitchell Starc ran through the spine of Indian batting lineup, returning figures of 3 for 56 in 10 overs. Meanwhile, Pat Cummins and Kane Richardson conceded 44 and 43 runs, respectively, with 2 wickets apiece. Adam Zampa finished his 10 overs with the figures of 1 for 53, whereas another Australian spinner Ashton Agar returned figures of 1 for 56.
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Things hardly went India’s way as skipper Virat Kohli chose to make a change in the batting lineup by giving KL Rahul the coveted number 3 position.
Though India lost Rohit Sharma when they were only 13, a 121-run stand between Shikhar Dhawan (74 off 91) and KL Rahul (47 off 61) did set things up for the hosts. But Australia didn’t allow the duo to capitalise and once the stand was broken, India tumbled and could score only 255 runs before succumbing to a disciplined Australian bowling attack.
Notably, after a string of good performances in Tests for Australia, Marnus Labuschagne makes his debut in the white-ball format.
It will be an extremely tough task for India, who are playing with only five bowlers, to defend the target against a team like Australia, who feature a world-class batting lineup, consisting David Warner, Aaron Finch, Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith.
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