Australia vs India 2018-19: 5 records can be broken in the ODI series
After the historic series triumph in Tests, the focus shifts to the ODI format. With the ICC World Cup set to happen in five months, every match will serve as a curtain raiser to the mega piece event. Australia will be more formidable in the 50-over format than they were in the Tests.
Despite being dropped for the fourth Test at Sydney, Aaron Finch comes back to captain Australia, as he is a prolific run scorer in limited overs format. They will also be bolstered by the return of explosive duo in Glenn Maxwell and Alex Carey as both have scored runs in the ongoing Big Bash League. Although their primary bowlers have been rested, the bowling line up looks formidable with the likes of Billy Stanlake, Adam Zampa, Jhye Richardson.
India will again be the favourites in the format where India has won more matches since 2017. The top 3 in Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli are expected to be the primary contributors with the bat. India will be hoping to give some valuable match time for the middle order batsman before the World Cup.
Captain Kohli will again depend on spin-twins Yuzvendra Chahal & Kuldeep Yadav to put the breaks in the middle order and help India record their first ever bilateral series win down under. Let us look at a few records that Indians could break in the series.
#1 Mahendra Singh Dhoni - Second wicketkeeper ever to score 10000 for his nation
MS Dhoni has been in the scrutiny for the number of runs he has scored in the recent times. Despite lacking runs under his belt, his contributions in ODI cricket is still noteworthy. With the strong top-order like the one India has, Dhoni hasn't had many opportunities to score big runs.
India would be hoping for a change in 2019, as he is in his last leg of his career. He is just one run away from becoming the second wicketkeeper to score 10000 ODI runs for his country after Kumar Sangakkara. The team management should somehow give Dhoni more game time so that he does what he has done for one and a half decade.
We all witnessed the vintage Dhoni in IPL 2018 where he gave himself some time to settle before going berserk. With Ambati Rayudu securing the no. 4 slot, Dhoni is expected to bat at 5 and all of India will be hoping to see him score crucial runs in the lower middle-order.