Latest News

  • Home
  • Sports
  • Favourites India look to continue momentum against world champions Australia in Kolkata.
Favourites India look to continue momentum against world champions Australia in Kolkata.
Thursday, September 21, 2017 IST
Favourites India look to continue momentum against world champions Australia in Kolkata.

 
Kolkata: Their tails up after overcoming initial jolts to pull off an emphatic victory in the series opener against Australia, India would look to retain the momentum in the second One-Day International on Thursday despite the leaden eyed skies threatening to play spoilsport here at the Eden Gardens.
 
India were down in the dumps at 87/5 in Chennai, before young all-rounder Hardik Pandya (83) and seasoned campaigner MS Dhoni (79) upturned the script with an 118-run six wicket stand that helped the hosts post a challenging total, which the Kangaroos could not match up to in a rain-truncated chase.

 
 

The tourists, according to their former skipper Michael Clarke, have to win the second rubber in order to have any chance of taking the series. In order to do that, Smith's wards will need to improve on their death bowling which looked rather flat in Chennai conceding 83 runs in the last 10 overs.
 
 
 
But at this moment, all eyes are focussed heavenwards, with the Met office predicting thundershowers on the morrow. Another shortened cricketing contest is also within the realms of possibility, as the city has been lashed by spells of heavy showers over the past few days.
 
"We need at least two hours of sunshine to get the ground ready. We are well-equipped, we are keeping our fingers crossed," East Zone curator Ashish Bhowmick had said two days before the game.
 
If the track, mostly kept under covers because of the inclement weather, does not get sufficient light before the game, the wicket would be damp and could assist fast bowlers initially.
 
This could augur well for the visitors who have in their ranks Nathan Coulter-Nile, who bowled really well the other day, returning best innings figures of 3/44 which included the prize wicket of Virat Kohli who departed without troubling the scorers.
 
Eden Gardens is a familiar turf for Coulter-Nile, as he plays for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League and exhibited exemplary form this season for the purple brigade.
 
Also under spotlight will be India's wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav (2/33) and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (3/30) shared five wickets between themselves in Chennai. The pair, first of their kind to bowl in tandem in an ODI for India - that's across 43 years and 923 matches - have caused their rivals quite a few problems and would be expected to play an important role here as well.
 
In team news, the Aussies are likely too again miss the services of opener Aaron Finch who injured his calf muscle during training in Chennai.
 
Hilton Cartwright, who made his debut in the first ODI, is expected to keep his place with Travis Head batting at number 4.
 
The hosts might give Ajinkya Rahane another chance to open the batting alongwith Rohit Sharma. Rahane failed in the first game managing just five runs from 15 deliveries.
 
At number 4, K.L. Rahul could stake a claim after Manish Pandey failed to impress in the last tie scoring a duck.
 
Rohit and Eden have a special relationship and the last time India won at the venue, Rohit shattered the ODI record books in 2014. The Mumbai batsman hammered a world record 264 against Sri Lanka and India went on to win by 153 runs.
 
Australia have a 100 per cent record, and fond memories at Eden. It was at the iconic ground that thery lifted their their maiden World cup, thirty years back in 1987. Back then, Alan Border's side had beaten England by seven runs in the final.
 
The tourists' turned out in their only other ODI game at the Eden in 2003, opposite India. Australia won by 37 runs.

 
 

 
Teams (from)
 
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.
 
Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), Adam Zampa

 
 
 
 
 

Related Topics

 
 
 
 

Trending News & Articles

 Article
Forgotten Hero's Series: Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav Indian Olympic medalist who never got a Padma Award

Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav (Marathi: श्री. खाशाबा दादासाहेब जाधव, January 15, 1926 – August 14, 1984) was an Indian athlete. He is best known as a wrestler who...

Recently posted . 6K views . 60 min read
 

 Article
Remembering VP Sathyan, India's forgotten 'Captain'

There's a scene in the movie 'Captain', a freshly-minted Malayalam biopic on former India defender VP Sathyan, which tries to capture the conflict rag...

Recently posted . 2K views . 1 min read
 

 Article
Virat Kohli Has A Special Message For India U-17 Football Team Ahead Of The World Cup

These are exciting times for Indian football. India is set to host a FIFA World Cup and participate in it for the first time. The under-17 World Cup begins ...

Recently posted . 2K views . 2 min read
 

 Article
Not Virat Kohli, THIS player is the fittest cricketer in the Indian cricket team

Virat Kohli is one of the fittest players in Indian cricket team but he is not the fittest of all.

Recently posted . 2K views . 0 min read
 

 
 

More in Sports

 Article
Virat Kohli Overtakes Lionel Messi On Forbes List Of Most Valuable Athletes

Virat Kohli seems to be going from strength to strength. Having recently overtaken Ponting to become the second highest century maker in ODI history, Kohli has now ...

Recently posted. 686 views . 4 min read
 

 Article
Alastair Cook: Great, but not the greatest

With Alastair Cook retiring from international cricket he’s been taking a lot of plaudits and when you look at his stats, even though he’s been in ter...

Recently posted. 535 views . 1 min read
 

 Article
Yuvraj Singh Announces Retirement From International Cricket

Yuvraj Singh, once a poster boy of Indian cricket, on Monday brought the curtain down on his international career.

Recently posted. 619 views . 0 min read
 

 Video
Science of Swing Bowling - Hindi



Recently posted . 1K views
 

 Photo
10 Most Followed Cricketer on Social Media



Recently posted . 1K views
 

 Article
Youngest IPL debutant Prayas managing RCB and CBSE tests at same time

Having conceded 0/56 runs from his four overs, the Bengal teenager may not have passed the RCB test with flying colours but his only solace was the entire bowling u...

Recently posted. 610 views . 2 min read
 

 Article
No shame in showing tears, it's ok for men to cry: Sachin Tendulkar

HIGHLIGHTS   • "There's no shame in showing your tears. So why hide ...

Recently posted. 417 views . 3 min read
 

 
 
 

   Prashnavali

  Thought of the Day

The strongest people aren’t always the people who win. But the people who don’t give up when in adverse situation, challenging to fight wid great courage and commitment to change the situation, making impossible possible..Good Morning
Anonymous

Be the first one to comment on this story

Close
Post Comment
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST


ads
Back To Top