While winning this series, some qualities of the Indian team came to light, which can benefit the team in the ICC World Cup starting next month. By winning the first ODI match in Mohali, the Indian team had reached number one in the rankings and now the second win has ensured its entry as the number one team in the World Cup.
Shreyas Iyer has always been a part of the Indian team's World Cup plans but he was not able to play in rhythm after returning from the injury problem and this had increased the concerns of the Indian team management. He is the fourth batsman in the team, hence the team management was also working on an alternative plan for some time.
When Shreyas got injured during the Asia Cup, KL Rahul was tried at this number and he appeared to be a contender for this position by scoring a century. After Shreyas was run out cheaply in the first match of the current series, it was believed that if he could not perform even in Indore, he might lose his place in the playing 11 during the World Cup. But Shreyas Iyer showed with his performance in the second ODI why he is special to play at number four.
Batting at a strike rate of 116.66, he scored 105 runs, which included 11 fours and three sixes. With this performance, Shreyas' lost confidence has also come back, which is definitely going to benefit India in the World Cup.
The way Shubman Gill has been batting for some time now, it seems that he can prove to be India's trump card in the World Cup. Gill had indicated that he is fully prepared for the World Cup while playing a half-century innings in Mohali. By playing a century (104) in Indore, he has indicated that he is going to play an important role for the team in the World Cup.
His opening partner Rohit Sharma will also get the opportunity to play in Shubman's rhythm in the World Cup. Shubman plays at a good pace from the beginning, this will help Rohit to settle down first and then play aggressively.
This is Gill's fifth century in ODI matches this year and the strike rate of 107.21 during this century shows that even though he is a little slow in the beginning, he has the ability to increase the run rate soon. Apart from being successful in finding cracks for fours, he also has the ability to hit sixes at the time of need. Suryakumar Yadav is considered an unmatched player in the shortest format of cricket. But he was not able to repeat that performance in ODI cricket.
It seemed that perhaps he was not made for ODI cricket. The problem he was facing was that despite getting good starts many times, he was not able to convert his performance into big innings. After continuous poor performance in ODI cricket, questions were also raised about his selection in the World Cup team. But in Mohali, he impressed everyone by controlling some of his T20 shots and playing his half-century.
In Indore, he showed aggressively that he can prove to be very useful when there is a need to score runs fast. He played an important role in taking India's score to 399 runs by playing an inning of 72 runs in 37 balls at a strike rate of 194.59.
Suryakumar has definitely broken the morale of Cameron Green by hitting four sixes in four balls of one over in the 44th over of the innings. Now whenever he is in front of Surya, he will not be able to remain normal. It is quite possible that Surya may start appearing in Green's dreams, just as Sachin Tendulkar used to appear in Shane Warne's dreams.
It is true that Surya and Ishan Kishan may not get a place in the Indian XI for the World Cup. But both of them have definitely shown through their performance that under them, India's bench strength is also strong and they are fully prepared for the time of need.
Ravichandran Ashwin is not included in the World Cup team. But there was also criticism for not including any off-spinner in the team. When Ashwin was selected in the team of this series after Axar Patel got injured during the Asia Cup, it was definitely indicated that he could be included in the World Cup team.
Ashwin has always been the master stroke of Indian bowling. He was getting spin from the wicket and mixing the pace made it difficult for him to play and he broke the back of Australia's innings by taking three wickets. It was because of Ashwin's bowling that David Warner had to play as a right-handed batsman.
Till recently it was being said that the World Cup was round the corner but the team's batsmen could not make it to the finals. The reason for this was that KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer were about to return after injury problems and Suryakumar Yadav was not able to play in form.
But after the Asia Cup, with the performance of these three in this series, it is now going to be a problem for the team managers as to who should be included in the eleven and who should not.
The Indian team has become fit in both batting and bowling matters. The only area in which the team looked a little weak was catching. Due to this weakness, Australia's tail batsmen were successful in reducing the margin of defeat considerably. Such mistakes will have to be avoided in the World Cup, otherwise problems may increase.
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