Focus On Suryakumar Yadav As Indian Top-Order Burn Midnight Oil To Tackle 'Mitchell The Menace'

21.03.2023 - 15:29 sports.ndtv.com

The prima donnas of Indian batting will have to put their best foot forward while tackling the lethal in-dippers from Mitchell Starc when they face Australia in the series-deciding third ODI in Chennai on Wednesday.

If Starc is giving sleepless nights to the batters, the other 'Mitchell -- Mitchell Marsh -- has sent the Indian bowlers on a leather hunt by hitting nearly a dozen sixes (11) across two games.

Tackling 'Mitchell The Menace' will be topmost on the Indian team's agenda. The series is locked at 1-1 and the starry quartet of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav will have to bat out of their skins to stop the left-arm pacer, who is gearing up to once again bring the ball back viciously into the right-handers while taking a few away.

A sea change on the technical aspect, as well mental make-up, will be the need of the hour, and Starc has exposed their frailties pretty badly.

cricket Australia Cricket Team 2023 on focus as Mitchell Starc Virat Kohli Australia India Mumbai Chennai Mitchell

India opener Shubman Gill has climbed a spot to career-best fourth position among batters in the latest ICC ODI Player Rankings released on Wednesday. Apart from Gill, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma too features in the top 10. While Kohli also moved a spot to seventh, Rohit remained static at eighth in the list led by Pakistan skipper Babar Azam. Pacer Mohammed Siraj continues to be the only Indian bowler in the top 10 as he held on to his number three spot, behind Australian quick Josh Hazlewood and New Zealand's Trent Boult.

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