After losing the Ranchi ODI, there are some serious concerns for Team India in the ongoing five-match ODI series despite the fact that they are leading the series 2-1 before entering the field at the PCA Stadium in Mohali for the fourth ODI. As it has turned out, a couple of Indian players may already be in need of some self-analysis and they have only two matches left ahead of the ICC World Cup 2019.

With bilateral results are secondary at this point, India, one of the preeminent ODI sides of this generation, have been genuinely puzzled by the fact that the usually well-oiled parts of their ODI machinery are creaking.

Curiously, the Indian openers are failing more often than not in recent times. Shikhar Dhawan is without a 50+ score for seven innings along with that, Ambati Rayudu, who has had his old wounds against the seaming ball exposed once again by the Australian bowling attack at Ranchi. Even during the Ranchi ODI, the Indian fielders had some oily hands (barring a moment of Jadeja-Dhoni brilliance) and even in the last two games, the bowlers have also failed to take a wicket in the batting powerplay.

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On the other hand, after having a forgettable 2018, Australia has managed to find some knights in the shining armor ahead of the mega event. With Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja scoring some runs in Ranchi can be a morale-boosting not only for the individuals but also for the team. However, the visitors finished poorly in Ranchi, scoring just 69 runs in the final 10 overs and that could’ve cost them the match as well. 

During the post-match presentation after the Ranchi ODI, the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli hinted of some changes in the last two matches of the series. That was followed by news of rest for MS Dhoni. That paves the way for Rishabh Pant, who will have two chances to prove that he, and not Dinesh Karthik, should go to the World Cup as the team’s reserve keeper. KL Rahul would love some game time himself, but with the dip in form of Rohit Sharma, Dhawan and Rayudu it seems unlikely. Mohammed Shami, who went off the field in Ranchi with a minor injury, is now expected to make way for Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

India remains uncertain about Ravindra Jadeja’s role in the side with the all-rounder yet to provide the batting assurance at No. 8 that helped him pip Yuzvendra Chahal in the first place. A rollback could be in the offing with the wrist spinner offering more of an attacking threat with the ball.

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Given the short turnaround in Ranchi, Australia will be unable to include Nathan Coulter-Nile (paternity leave) back in the side. A toss-up between playing an additional seamer – Jason Behrendorff – and a spinner – Nathan Lyon – will be the only major selection call for Finch and Langer.

Predicted XIs:

Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (c), Ambati Rayudu/KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja/Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah

Aaron Finch (c), Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Adam Zampa, Pat Cummins, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Lyon/Jason Behrendorff

Some of the important stats ahead of the game:

• Australia has a good record in ODIs in Mohali, winning five out of the six matches they played here, including all four since 1997.
• If Virat Kohli scores a century in the fourth ODI, he will become the first player to score three successive hundreds in ODIs twice in his career.
• Shikhar Dhawan has now played 17 consecutive innings since his last ODI century – the joint longest for him. He endured a similar lean patch between December 2013 and October 2014 without a three-figure score.