4th ODI: Rishabh Pant In Focus As India Look To Bounce Back From Ranchi Defeat
Young Rishabh Pant and premier pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar are set to feature in India's playing XI against Australia in Mohali.
Highlights
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Rishabh Pant and premier pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar are set to feature
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India will aim to bounce back and seal the ODI series
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MS Dhoni seems to have played his last international game in Ranchi
India will aim to bounce back and seal the One-Day International (ODI) series when they host Australia in the fourth match at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali. The hosts' two-match winning run was brought to a halt by Australia in Ranchi, as the visitors scored 313 runs and later bundled India to trail 1-2 and keep the five-match ODI series alive. However, all eyes will be on young Rishabh Pant, who will strive to seal a slot in the 2019 World Cup squad even as India fret about their top-order woes ahead of the Mohali clash.
Providing opportunities to all World Cup 2019 hopefuls would be on skipper Virat Kohli's mind and the team management is expected to ring in a few changes in the playing XI in the remaining two matches of the series.
MS Dhoni seems to have played his last international game in Ranchi and now Pant gets a chance to book his boarding pass for the England-bound flight.
In earlier ODIs, Pant had played purely as a batsman but with Dhoni being rested, Pant will get a chance to don the gloves.
The Indian playing XI will also have Bhuvneshwar Kumar on Sunday as he replaces Mohammed Shami, who was hit on the leg in his follow through during the third match.
Shami completed his spell but since he is expected to be sharing the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah in England, it is natural to give him precautionary rest.
However, what will keep the Indian team worried is the batting form of the top-order, save skipper Kohli, who has been lock, stock and barrel above everyone in his team.
Kohli has 283 runs in three games with two hundreds and the next best in the Indian team is Kedar Jadhav with 118 runs.
Rohit Sharma is undergoing a rare slump in ODIs, having scored only 51 runs in three innings.
Even worse is Ambati Rayudu's performance at No.4 with aggregate of 33 runs in three games.
Shikhar Dhawan's struggles are well-documented and he has scored only 22 runs in three games.
Dhawan and Rayudu's form should be a cause of concern even though both are certainties as far as place in the World Cup squad is concerned.
Squads:
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rishabh Pant (wk).
Australia: Aaron Finch (captain), Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Jhye Richardson, Adam Zampa, Andrew Tye, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Alex Carey, Nathan Lyon, Jason Behrendorff.
Match Starts: 1:30 pm.
(With PTI inputs)
India Cricket Team