🏏Australia vs. India: 2nd ODI at Indore on 24/09/2023 D/N🏏 - Page 79

India - 2 | Australia - 0. A lot of questions answered for the Men in Blue over these two ODIs played against one of the best teams in world cricket. They've got a lot of clarity on Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav going into the World Cup, without a doubt, and given Ravichandran Ashwin's performance tonight, even the all-rounder deserves to be part of the squad for the upcoming ODI World Cup that is starting in less than two weeks. Team India looks as solid as ever at the moment and they'll be looking forward to making it 3-0 against the Aussies, but even if they lose the dead-rubber, the hosts have their World Cup squad settled, more or less.

https://twitter.com/Radhika8057/status/1705989038589857962?t=ci-PXXwoNRRJPHPu2NZPww&s=19

Hitesh: "Most boxes are getting ticked for Ind in last few games except for the catching"

Arv: "Shreyas, Surya and Ashwin have given the selectors and team management a major headache now! Don't even know who the best 11 are, we have a best 15!" - That's confidence!

India won by 99 runs (2nd innings reduced to 33 overs due to rain, DLS target 317)

That's an emphatic win for India as they clinch the 3-match series 2-0, of course with a game remaining.. After setting a mammoth target of 400, India were clearly the favourites to win the match, and they have won the game by a massive margin eventually. The centuries by Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill, while the fifties by Suryakumar Yadav and KL Rahul powered India to their highest total in ODIs against Australia and the Indian bowlers made sure to further choke the Aussies in the second essay. The Aussies lost a couple of early wickets in the form of Short and Smith, hence the run chase got further difficult as a result of that. The second rain break made things even worse for the visitors as the target was revised to 317 in 33 overs. With the scoreboard pressure mounting, Ashwin got into the attack and picked three wickets to make the run chase improbable for the visiting team. There were a few Australian batters who looked promising, but it were the Men in Blue who clicked all the boxes right right. With rain or without it, there was only one team that dominated proceedings in this Indore encounter and they rightly ended up on the winning side. Three wickets for Ashwin, three wickets for Jadeja, a lovely night for the Indian spinners.. Stay around for the presentations..

Shubman Gill: It feels good. Satisfied as a team, we have the momentum at the right time. It depends on the situation, there's definitely some confidence. I can cover up later, and that confidence is because I am scoring at the moment. With the way KL and Surya played, they kept the momentum going. A taget of 400 was going to be difficult on any surface, and the bowlers came out and did their job. I think the six against Green down the ground, it was really special for me.

Steve Smith | Australia captain: When we came here it looked like a good wicket. Credit to them, Gill and Iyer batted beautifully and took that game away from us. The way KL and Surya batted, it was briliant. After the rain, it got sticky and it started to spin. We have lost quite a few (matches) in a row, in South Africa and here. We need to sort out a few things, hopefully we turn it around in the next game. We have a few days now, we are working towards the World Cup, both the teams are. Hopefully we'll turn it around in the last game.

KL Rahul | India captain: When I saw the wicket in the morning, I didn't think it would spin so much. Putting 400 on the board gives you confidence. It's not really our decision to make. Our jobs are clear. Everyone who gets picked in the XI, needs to focus on their job. Everyone has gone through this, you need to keep getting better and wait for the opportunities. We have dropped a few catches, but fielding under lights, it's challenging physically. The coaches are doing their best to keep the guys fit. Sometimes these errors happen. The commitment is always there, we'll learn from it, brush it off and get better in the next game. Nothing is discussed, but guys coming back will want to make it count. With the World Cup only a couple of weeks away, guys will want to get into it. They need to get used to the challenges, they will be keen to get back on to the field.

Shreyas Iyer | Player of the Match: It was a rollercoaster right, feeling fantastic. My team-mates, friends and family were there for my support. I was seeing the matches on TV, I wanted to be out there and participate in the matches. Grateful to be believing in myself. The pain and niggles kept on coming, but I knew what I was aiming for. Glad that I was able to execute my plans perfectly today. Basically when I went in to bat, I didn't want to complicate things. I wanted to get my eyes set, that's how I give confidence to myself. I am flexible, ready to bat any position, whatever my team needs to do. Virat (Kohli) is one of the greats, there's no chance of stealing that (number 3) spot from him. I just need to keep scoring.