Australia’s ODI series in India is all but over and their recent biggest opponent, not Captain Virat Kohli has made more headlines in the last one day than all of the Aussie batting line-up put together has, in the last ten games.
But before they shift their attention to Ben Stokes's bar brawl and all the news that's trickle through from Bristol, they still have two matches to play.
The ODI champions have made a respect of their reputation since their World Cup triumph at home in 2015. Out of the 20 losses since (in 48 games), 11 have come in a row. If they add two more to that humiliating tally, they'll slide down to 4th in the ODI rankings in the ICC team ranking.
India finds themselves at the absolute another end of the range. A win on Thursday will give them their first 10-match winning streak ever in the format, while also taking them to the top of the heap in ODIs.
Australia's heel through this series has been their batting, and the Chinnaswamy wicket is not about to do them any favors. After a 21-over chase in Chennai and a swing-fest in Kolkata, the Indore wicket came as a respite (to an extent) for the Australian batsman. But the Bangalore surface will once again push them out of their comfort zone, this time asking questions of them and their temperament to survive on a slow, sluggish track.
The drastic transformation of the mood between the last time Australia touched down in Bangalore for the second Test four months ago and their arrival for the inconsequential fourth ODI now is symptomatic of how far down the visitors have slipped since their Pune heroics.
A win on Thursday will make no difference from the series perspective but could come as a balm for Australia's recurring wounds in the subcontinent and do some repair work to their reputation. After all, till someone else holds the trophy aloft in England in 2019, Australia will technically still be world champions.
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Pink Ball Day Test match played between New Zealand A and India A.
