JAIPUR: Having lost the first ODI of the series by 72 runs, hosts India will look to plug their batting and bowling loopholes as they go into the second ODI against a resurgent Australia side with concerns over the form of some of their key bowlers today.
Having been beaten comprehensively, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men would be keen to get their act together as gaining momentum will be key in this seven-match series.
On the other hand, a win at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium will give Australia a run-away lead, which will be a shot in the arm considering they came into the series as underdogs.
The world champions, who have had a tremendous year so far, will be keen to show the defeat in Pune was a one-off as they go out there to reassert their supremacy in the 50-over format.
The hosts would need to lift their performances by quite a few notches as they were below par in all departments during the first one-dayer.
The Indian pacers have been quite pedestrian during the opening encounter with both Ishant Sharma and R Vinay Kumar being clobbered by the trio of Aaron Finch, Bailey and Glenn Maxwell. Especially Ishant, who has been disappointing in both Twenty20 international and the first ODI.
Figures of 0/52 in four overs in the T20 international followed by 0/56 in seven overs in ODIs have hurt India badly as Aussie batsmen assaulted the lanky Delhi pacer with a flurry of boundaries in both matches.
He has looked out of sorts and failed to hit the right length as he delivered a lot of short balls.
Indian spinners have performed relatively well with both Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja putting up a decent show in the two matches that they have played so far.
With Yuvraj Singh bowling his slow left-armers effectively, the spin department is less of a concern for Dhoni at the moment.
The Australian bowling attack was really impressive on the other day as their pace troika came hard at the Indian batsmen.
While Mitchell Johnson was fast and accurate bowling at a speed close to 150 kmph, Clint Mckay and Faulkner time and again hit the right areas and also got the ball to swing. AGENCIES
