India vs Australia, 5th ODI statistical preview: Rohit Sharma eyes milestone

Few gave Australia a chance after India beat them in the first two ODIs, at Hyderabad and Nagpur. But they came back strongly, with a 32-run win in the third ODI, at Ranchi. And in the fourth, at Mohali, they chased down 359 with 13 balls to spare. If anything, the momentum lies with Australia, who have scored 313/5 and 359/6 (in 47.5 overs) in the last two matches against India’s formidable bowling attack.

There were talks of resting Virat Kohli and a few other key players once India went 2-0 up, but Australia had made sure India could afford none of that. India’s only bright spot in the Mohali match was the return to form for both Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, who were at their destructive best, that too in unison.

Ahead of the fifth ODI, at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi, here is a statistical preview.

Statistical preview

0.667 Australia’s win-loss ratio at Kotla (2 wins, 3 defeats). Both wins (against Zimbabwe and India) came in the 1997-98 Pepsi Triangular Series in the space of 3 days.

0.933 India’s win-loss ratio against Australia in this decade (14 wins, 15 defeats). However, at home that reads 2.2 (11 wins, 5 defeats).

1 defeat in a bilateral ODI series for India in the past three years, in England last year.

2 bilateral home series defeats for India in this decade, against South Africa in 2015-16 and against Pakistan in 2012-13.

3 wickets needed by Glenn Maxwell (47) to reach 50 ODI wickets. Maxwell also has 2,441 runs. These 3 wickets will make Maxwell the 9th Australian to the 2,000 run-50 wicket double in ODIs and the 46th Australian to take 50 wickets.

2 India’s win-loss ratio at Kotla (12 wins, 6 defeats). Against Australia they have 3 out of 4 matches.

4 matches between India and Australia at Kotla and India have won 3, in 1986-87, in the 1987 World Cup, and in 2009-10.

8 hundreds for Virat Kohli in India-Australia ODIs. Only Sachin Tendulkar (9) has more, while Rohit Sharma has 7. Ricky Ponting (6) leads the Australian list.

9 runs needed by Kohli (1,625) to go past MS Dhoni (1,633) and become the 4th-highest run-getter in India-Australia ODIs. The list is headed by Tendulkar (3,077), Ponting (2,164), and Rohit (1,829).

12 wickets for Pat Cummins in the ongoing series, the joint 2nd-most in any India-Australia bilateral series. Mitchell Johnson took 14 wickets in 2007-08 in India. The Indian record (9) is by Kuldeep Yadav, also in this series.

13 fifty-plus scores for Kohli and Rohit in India-Australia ODIs. One more fifty will take them past Dhoni, Matthew Hayden, and Adam Gilchrist. Tendulkar leads the list with 24 fifties while Ponting has 15. In the current Australian squad, Aaron Finch has 9 fifty-plus scores against India.

25 months since Australia won an ODI series or tournament. Their last win came in early 2017, when they beat Pakistan 4-1 at home. And their last win away from home was back in August 2016.

46 runs needed by Rohit to reach 8,000 ODI runs. Rohit will become the 8th Indian (and 31st overall) to the landmark. If he does it at Kotla – in his 200th innings – Rohit will become the joint 3rd-fastest to 8,000 ODI runs, after Kohli (175 innings) and AB de Villiers (182). Sourav Ganguly had also reached the milestone in 200 innings.

202 runs for Virat Kohli at Kotla, his home ground, at an average of 50.50 and a strike rate of 89. Kohli is 5th on the all-time run-getters here, but is only 98 behind Sachin Tendulkar (300), who sits at the top.