2nd ODI preview: Without Ashwin, India need to conjure something special against South Africa

An under-pressure captain facing tremendous scrutiny, the best batsman not performing, the best and in-form bowler injured, repeating the same mistakes again, grabbing defeat from the hands of victory, and losing the first three matches of a long tour.

To make matters worse, the opposition’s best batsman in form.

It doesn’t get tougher than this for India as they prepare to take on South Africa in the 2nd ODI in Indore.

In all the three matches of the tour so far, it’s the batsmen who have faltered and that’s a big concern considering the fact that it is their biggest strength. In the first T20I, they were cruising at 158/1 after 15 overs but then managed just 41/4 in the last five. That proved to be crucial. In the second T20I, they were bundled out for just 92. In the first ODI, they needed 35 from 24 balls with seven wickets in hand - completely doable in this day and age - but they bottled it.

Rohit Sharma might have been wondering what more he has to do after scoring more than half the team’s runs and still ending up on the losing side.

Virat Kohli is going through a lean patch in the ODIs and he needs to massively step up his game. His last six scores in ODIs read: 11, 25, 23, 1, 1, 3. It’s been 11 innings since he’s got a 50-plus score. Rahane played well for his 60 in the first ODI, but he struggled to rotate strike and that’s what he really needs to work on, in order to get a longer run in the limited-overs side. There are high hopes from Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina, who haven’t done much in the three matches so far.

More than anything, the lower order needs to fire. The No 7 slot has been a problem for India of late. It would be harsh to criticise Stuart Binny based on just his performance in the last match, but after being hit for 63 from eight overs without any wickets, MS Dhoni might be forced to bring in Axar Patel or Gurkeerat Singh in his place. With Dhoni looking to accommodate Rahane in the top order, there has been too much instability in the batting order lately. And too many experiments. Stability is the need of the hour.

Dhoni took the blame of the loss in the last match. He has been facing a lot of media and social media backlash for his batting. But if you see the stats, he hasn’t done too badly - his last five ODI scores read - 31, 69, 47, 5, 65 at an average of 43.40. However, such are the expectations from him. “When you bat down the order, you have to take the blame especially because of the fact when you finish many games, people always remember the ones you have not finished,” he said after the first ODI.

Rohit Sharma has been in imperious form and will again hold the key. The South African’s are already working on a plan to stop him - Get him out in the first ten deliveries. “At the moment he (Rohit) is really batting well. He bats well in Indian conditions. He is a great player. The first 10 balls to him are important. You need to try and get him out in the first 10 balls. We will probably look to bowl the glory ball. He is one of those players who kicks on if he gets past 20,” Langeveldt told reporters in the pre-match press conference at the Holkar Stadium.

With Ravichandran Ashwin set to miss out due to injury, India face a big worry in the bowling department. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has looked nowhere near his best and isn’t getting the swing going. He needs to start taking wickets upfront. Umesh Yadav is still inconsistent. This is where leg-spinner Amit Mishra will have a huge role to play. He bowled beautifully in the first match and will be India’s go-to man. Harbhajan will, in all probability, take Ashwin’s place. He bowled decently in Zimbabwe with four wickets from three matches at 27.50 and economy rate of 3.66.

The Indian bowlers’ biggest challenge lies in conjuring a plan to somehow stop the rampant AB de Villiers.

South Africa have momentum on their side and they pretty much won the first ODI with Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel not being at their best. The youngster Kagiso Rabada has impressed in the three matches so far and his extra pace has proved to be the difference. It was Imran Tahir’s 47th over that turned the match around in the last ODI and he will again be the key in the bowling department.

South Africa do have concerns in the batting department. Amla hasn’t looked confident in the middle. He got a start in the last match (37 off 59) but couldn’t carry on. David Miller is under some pressure. He has gone without a 50-plus score in his last 17 international innings (12 in ODIs). De Villiers will again look to lead from the front. He has been unstoppable against India in India. He averages 102 from seven innings and his last four scores read: 104*, 52, 102*, 114*. He’s remained not out in three of those innings which says a lot about how difficult he is to dislodge.

Perhaps the biggest morale-boosting factor for India will be their record at Holkar Stadium, Indore. They have won all the three matches at this venue. Holkar Stadium will be hosting an ODI after nearly four years, and it’s the same venue where Virender Sehwag hit a whirlwind 219. This will be the Proteas’ first match at this venue.

The 27,000 capacity stadium is generally known to produce flat wickets and the previous encounters have been high-scoring ones. We might expect the trend to continue.

South Africa go into the match as favourites and India need to conjure up something special to turn things around.