In a pivotal second One-Day International between India and Australia at the Adelaide Oval, Australia won the toss and elected to bowl first. Still recovering from their previous defeat in Perth, India desperately needed a victory to even the series before the final showdown in Sydney.
The Indian team maintained an unchanged lineup, opting for three pacers and two spinners, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar. Nitish Reddy continued his role as the seam-bowling all-rounder, while spinner Kuldeep Yadav was once again left out of the playing eleven.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor
Kuldeep’s continued absence, especially after Australian newcomer Xavier Bartlett had a standout performance (taking the wickets of Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli in a single over), drew sharp criticism from Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. He openly questioned the Indian selectors’ decision.
Shashi Tharoor publicly questioned the Indian selectors for not choosing Kuldeep Yadav for the second ODI against Australia.
“So Xavier Bartlett took just four balls to show the Indian selectors the idiocy of their decision to leave out the most potent match-winner in their squad, @imkuldeep18, in favour of a journeyman pacer like Rana. It was wrong to omit Kuldeep in England & it is absurd not to pick him in Adelaide. Awful,!” Tharoor expressed on social media platform X.
Meanwhile, Australia made three changes to their squad, bringing back Alex Carey as wicketkeeper and Adam Zampa as the leg-spinner. Xavier Bartlett also joined the team, replacing Josh Philippe, Matt Kuhnemann, and Nathan Ellis. The Australians were clearly focused on securing the series victory with another win.
The Adelaide Oval pitch, renowned as one of Australia’s top batting tracks with similarities to subcontinent conditions, was expected to favor India. This familiar playing surface offered a potential advantage to India after their disappointing display in Perth.
As the series headed towards its climax, the home team was eager to wrap up a series victory before the final match in Sydney. India, however, knew they had to perform to keep their hopes alive in the three-match series.