KOLKATA, Sept 20: India would expect their top order batsmen to make amends for a rare poor show in the series-opener and hope that the spinners continue to torment Australia when the two teams clash in the second One-day International, here tomorrow.
The Australians are struggling against India�s new spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal and the hosts would like to ensure that it doesn�t get any easy as the series progresses.
Yadav is proving to be a mystery for the Aussies, who have also struggled to pick Chahal�s sliders. The visitors were seen taking the help of local wrist spinners to find tricks to counter the Indian bowlers.
While Kerala�s KK Jiyas helped them before the Chennai ODI, two local club bowlers � Ashutosh Shibram and Rupak Guha � provided some practice to the Aussie batsmen, here.
Chasing a revised target of 164 in 21 overs in the rain-interrupted first ODI, Aussies were 35 for four before Glenn Maxwell�s power-hitting raised hopes of an unlikely win.
But Chahal and Yadav went about their task meticulously to seal a 26-run win by the D/L method.
The Aussies have a bigger threat to contend with in Hardik Pandya who steered India to a respectable 281 for seven from a precarious 76/6.
Pandya hit another hat-trick of sixes � four times in International cricket � as he smashed 83 from 66 balls in a match-turning 118-run partnership with MS Dhoni (79 from 88).
Pandya�s rise since IPL-2015 has been remarkable. From being a careless hitter to restraining his shots in the V, Pandya has matured as a player.
He has also emerged as the utility medium-pace all-rounder that India have been searching for long.
His knock in Chennai not only seized the momentum but had a demoralising effect on Australia�s leading spinner Adam Zampa who was left ruing his �lengths�.
It remains to be seen how the Australian spin resources challenge the formidable Indian batting line up. The visitors have three part-time tweakers in Glenn Maxwell, Travis Head and Ashton Agar.
SQUADS
India: Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami.
Australia: Steve Smith (C), David Warner, Hilton Cartwright, Matthew Wade (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, James Faulkner, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis and Aaron Finch.
Match starts: 1:30 pm. � PTI
