Rohit Sharma: “It is disappointing. No doubt about that. We didn’t play to our potential. We didn’t apply ourselves with the bat. We always knew that was not enough runs. It was not a 117 pitch at all. By no means. We just didn’t apply ourselves. [Starc] is a quality bowler. He’s been doing it for years for Australia with the new ball. He kept bowling to his strength and we kept falling to his strength. That’s something that we need to understand and play accordingly. All their bowlers bowled really well and put us under pressure.”
Steven Smith: “It was a quick one. 37 overs for the game, you don’t see that too often. I thought our bowlers were outstanding. Mitchell Starc in particular with that new ball swinging it back down the line and putting them under early pressure and he complemented really well with the rest of our bowling group. I didn’t know how the wicket was going to play and how much it was going to swing. The way that Mitch and Heady went out and went after them was impressive. Putting them under pressure. When you’re chasing 118 you can break the back of it really quickly.”
Player of the Match is Mitchell Starc: “I feel like my rhythm has been good for a few weeks now and I guess the last couple of nights I’ve got the ball to shape in the air and do a little bit off the wicket so it’s feeling in a good place and hopefully it continues. The role I play is being slightly fuller and more attacking than the other guys which in turn can be not as economical, a bit more expensive but I think it brings in all the dismissals a bit more.”
Pitch and weather: Visakhapatnam has been a high-scoring venue with an average first-innings total of 295. The last time India played an ODI here, in December 2019, they posted 387 for 5 against West Indies with Rohit and Rahul scoring hundreds. Weather, though, could play spoilsport as there is a forecast of scattered showers in the afternoon.
India vs Australia Highlights today. 2nd ODI (D/N), Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam, Sunday 19-3-2023, Australia tour of India 2023.
Steven Smith: “Looks a decent surface and it’s been under covers for a while so might do something. Just the partnerships through the middle. We lost wickets in clumps. If we had partnerships, we could’ve launched in the back end. Hopefully we’ll rectify it today. It’s a good learning playing here before the World Cup later this year. Ellis in for Maxwell, who’s pulled up a little bit sore, and Carey for Inglis.”
Rohit Sharma: “We know we are batting first. Looks a bit dry the pitch. Been under the covers for awhile. Lets try to get how much we can and see the rest later. It is important to have that kind of atmosphere. It’s been a conscious effort for us to be calm and know what to do in situations. The last few ODI series we have played, we have tried to remain calm. Ishan misses out, I am back for him. Shardul misses out, Axar replaces him. Just looking at the pitch, I thought we will bowl if we win the toss but there can still be some turn in the evening. Not too sure, the pitch has been under the covers. The three spinners is something we might do in the World Cup, so trying it out.”
Australia win the toss and will bowl first.
India team: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami
Australia team: Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith (c), Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Stoinis, Sean Abbott, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa
Head to Head In ODI’s: 144
India Won: 54
Australia Won: 80
India ODI Rankings: 1st
Australia ODI Rankings: 2nd
Form guide
(Last five matches, most recent first)
India WWWWW
Australia LWWWW
Match Timings: 8:00 AM GMT | 1:30 PM Local
Umpires – Virender Sharma, Nitin Menon
TV Umpire – Jayaraman Madanagopal
Match Referee – Javagal Srinath
Reserve Umpire – KN Ananthapadmanabhan
Match number – ODI no. 4541
