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After their thumping defeat to England in the last game, the Indian team will look to change their batting approach to a more fearless one in the series-deciding third ODI against England at the Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester on Sunday. The team under Rohit Sharma displayed such tenacity in the recently concluded T20 International series but their inability to chase down a meagre total of 247 in the second ODI left a lot to be desired.
Adding to the woes in the form of Virat Kohli, and the amount of discussions that it has brought up. The run chase in the second ODI was the perfect chance to work his way back to form but the cricketer was unable to capitalise on the opportunity. But the batting was not helped by the other senior batters, something that the India skipper will be keen to address.
Hence, India will look for inspiration from their form in the T20Is as they look to seal the ODI series.
In the first ODI, it was the firepower of Jasprit Bumrah that helped India to a 10-wicket win with his six-wicket haul decimating the England batters. This also proves that the England power hitters are also not at their possible best as well. Players with the calibre of Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes and Liam Livingstone are displaying archaic ODI skills.
Rohit's approach in most games is not a problem but Indian team management led by head coach Rahul Dravid will have their own set of issues if Dhawan is their choice going into next year's 2023 ODI World Cup. The left-hander, apart from Rohit and Kohli, has been the most prolific scorer for India, partly because he opens the batting but also because two supremely talented players in their prime in the last decade gave him a chance to play his natural game.
But with the volume of bilateral ODIs shrinking considerably (most teams play three-match series) and Dhawan playing only one format, he is always having forced breaks, which is certainly affecting his rhythm. While the ODI World Cup is still 15 months away, it needs to be deliberated upon whether Rohit, Dhawan, and Kohli will be India's 1, 2 and 3 in the batting lineup going forward.
Teams
England
Jos Buttler (C), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Craig Overton, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey.
India
Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.
