Couch Critic provides his betting tips for the second ODI between India and Australia which takes place in Rajkot on Friday 17th January
INDIA VS AUSTRALIA, 2nd ODI Rajkot @ 10:00
SETTING THE SCENE
I cannot remember the Indians getting a more comprehensive hiding than what transpired in Mumbai in the opening ODI. The home side never really got much momentum to their innings and eventually succumbed to a below average score of 255. Though it was clearly not a sublime batting effort from the hosts, the Australian opening pair made it look even worse as they cruised to victory with a monstrous partnership – knocking off the score with more than a dozen overs to spare.
With India now trailing in the short series it makes the second ODI in Rajkot a must-win for Kohli’s men and given the nature of their Mumbai loss they must be keen on making up for the epic miss-fire last time out.
LET’S TALK TACTICS
In the preview to the opener I mentioned that I saw it as a battle between two strong, experienced top orders. India got a decent contribution from Dhawan and Kohli but it was nothing near what we saw from the Warner-Finch combo who were just devastating.
Whilst the top two will get all the plaudits it was the efforts of the quick men that caught my attention. Cummins and Richardson both went for less than five runs an over whilst Starc snared three scalps. In total they dislodged seven Indians in conditions which weren’t meant to assist them.
Rajkot is another stadia that doesn’t see a lot of top cricket action. The fans will pitch up in their droves to try and urge their team on to a crucial victory and the atmosphere for the visitors should be pretty intimidating. The last test match was hosted here in October 2018. On that occasion India passed the 600 mark and easily rolled the Windies twice – Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav helped themselves to a decent haul of wickets. The last T20 was held as recently as 7 November 2019 against Bangladesh. Chahal proved the most effective on that occasion.
HOW I SEE IT PLAYING OUT
I am expecting this track to assist the traditional Indian game a touch better but of course the time between games and nature of ODI cricket means there’s hardly chance for the home nation to ensure they trip up the Aussies on a dust bowl.
The quicks did a great job for the visitors in Mumbai but I’m expecting the Indians to go much better with the bat and possibly look to take Zampa on a bit more (which gives him a chance for some wickets). Given their struggles with the ball I also expect the home side to have Chahal back for this one and the leggie is always a threat. It seemed Marnus Labuschagne was down to step out at number three for the Aussies in the first match. An in-form player with plenty of time at the crease screams to be backed at decent odds. Lastly I expect India to come roaring back with a big effort in Rajkot.
Best Bets with BETOLIMP:
Top India Bowler – Chahal @ 4.00
Top Australian Bowler – A Zampa @ 4.50
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change
Couch Critic
