India have it all to do in this third one-day international against Australia at the MCG in Melbourne, after seeing the home team crush them in the chase on two occasions.
Australia have just had it ridiculously easy while chasing targets of over 300, and that is something that just shouldn't happen when you have as much quality as India do. While the wickets have been flat, the bowlers and fielders haven't done enough to exert enough pressure on the Aussie batsmen and force them to do something wrong.
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Steve Smith and George Bailey have been the batting stars so far, particularly the latter, who has hit two matchwinning knocks in this ODI series. Another such innings and Australia will wrap up the series 3-0, which, considering India are the No.2 ranked side in the world, just would not be good enough from the away team's perspective.
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Yes, Australia are the best ODI team in the world, yes, they are the world champions and yes, they are playing at home, but India just haven't come to the 100% party yet, something that is an absolute must against Steve Smith's team. If you do not put in an all-round performance, Australia, especially with their batting might, will hurt you, which was the case in the first two ODIs.
Dhoni admitted his batsmen would have to put up bigger scores to stand a chance of beating Australia – and the batsmen can certainly do that, considering the inexperience of the Aussie bowling lineup -- in the final three ODIs, but, if India bat first or second, the bowling and fielding need to step up. The MCG could offer more assistance to the spinners, and time is ripe for R Ashwin, with or without turn, to show why he is considered one of the best spinners in the world.
Australia will look for more of the same from their batsmen, while, perhaps, asking a little more of their bowlers, especially in the opening half of the innings. Australia's death bowling was outstanding in the second ODI, but they need to do better to stop Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli and the rest from dictating the pace of the game early on.
One bowler who will not be there to do that for the rest of the India tour is Josh Hazlewood, with cricket Australia deciding to rest the seamer. Hazlewood sat out the second ODI against India, and will not play any of the remaining matches, be that the three ODIs or the three T20s.
"Josh has played all six Tests this summer and has had a high workload," Australia coach Darren Lehmann told Cricket Australia's official website. "On that basis the decision has been made to give him a break to allow him to recharge both physically and mentally ahead of the tour of New Zealand.
"We regard it as sensible management of the player and it is an approach that we have adopted successfully in Australian cricket over a significant period of time, especially in the one-day format."
India do not have too many changes to consider, apart from maybe bringing in Rishi Dhawan for Ravindra Jadeja or even the extra batsman Manish Pandey.
Where to Watch Live
Watch the highlights of the match HERE
India vs Australia 3rd ODI is scheduled for an 2.20 pm local time (8.50 am IST, 3.20 am GMT) start. Star Sports 1, Star Sports HD 1, Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD3 (Hindi) will provide live coverage of the Australia vs India third one-day international on TV in India. Starsports online and Hotstar are the websites which will show the ODI match via live streaming online.
Channel 9 will broadcast the match live in Australia, while the online live stream option is on Cricket Australia Live.
Sky Sports 3 is the channel to watch in the UK, while the live streaming option is on Watch Sky Sports and Sky Go.
Willow TV will show the match live in the US, while all the action can be live streamed on Willow TV Online.
Viewers in the Middle East can catch the ODI match live on OSN Cricket, with the live stream option on OSN Play.
Audience in South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa can watch the match live on SuperSport, with the live streaming online option on SuperSport Live.
