The ongoing ODI series against Australia has ended in misery for India as the men in blue got comprehensively beaten in the second ODI as well. After a disappointing performance in the opening game of the ODI series, India fell shot in the second game as well due to lack of adequate batting impetus.
After being put too bat first, India got to 264 runs in the first innings and set a modest target of 265 runs to Australia, in what turned out to be a deciding game.
Australia was very comprehensive with the bat in the second innings before the fluttered towards the end of the chase. At one point, the scorecard read 187-5 and India look good to have a real chance in the game. But the experienced Australian batsmen kept track and finished the game in the end with 2 wickets to spare.
Except Rohit Sharma and Axar Patel, not many other Indian batsmen exhibited any sort of intent in the first innings, and this reflected in the scorecard of 264 runs. This came back to haunt the team towards the end as a target of 285 or 290 could have easily saved the game for India.
The third ODI is only going to be a consolation game now, but India will look to bounce back at least in this final ODI. Also, this happens to be the first time in 440 days that India lost two ODI games back to back. It needs to be said that Shubman Gill’s time as the new captain of the Indian ODI team did not start on a positive note.