With 222 runs and 6 wickets, Pandya has been a thorough 'captain's player' - gladly taking up any role that's been thrown at him. Steer India out of trouble at No. 7? Sure. Go up the order in a chase to take the spinner out of the equation? Why not! The show of versatility, another side to his default gung-ho mentality, has served India well and even prompted Virat Kohli to flirt with the idea of making him a permanent No. 4. How about that for a strong testimony for Pandya's growing stocks? Also, there's more.
"I know for a fact that he [Pandya] is someone, if something is told to him, he will go out there and try to do it immediately. In one Test match in Sri Lanka, he learned the offcutter in the morning and in the afternoon he was executing it on a pitch that was slow and turning and he got us a wicket," Kohli said.
Pandya is indeed evolving. And is also being very smart in the process. He's gotten the better of Steve Smith (twice) with variations, knuckle ball in Chennai, cross-seamer in Kolkata, he's foxed David Warner on the first batting belter of the series in Indore (with an offcutter) and has only one wicket out of the top four (Nathan Coulter-Nile). His credentials as a regular fifth bowler could be up for debate, but for now, Kohli can turn to him for something in every game. In Nagpur, Pandya bowled just two overs while part-timer Kedar Jadhav was trusted to complete his quota. But in the limited framework, the former found a way to breach the Warner-Finch duopoly.
Kuldeep, Chahal brave enough to cop punishment...
...as long as it fetches a wicket or two. That's been the early trend in India's new pet project. Both have been generous in baiting batsmen with flight and have not flinched at the sight of seeing balls soar over for sixes. A comeback has almost always been made from such situations. There was also sighting of a strong keeper-bowler relationship with MS Dhoni that further enhanced their effectiveness.
Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal ended the ODI series with 13 wickets together, while also playing a big role in India's ability to strangle Australia in the second half of the innings. Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have headlined India's death bowling prowess, but have also been beneficiaries of the spin duo's propensity in the crucial middle overs and the vital phase leading up to the last 10.
Ajinkya Rahane is very good, but India have better
Five matches, four half-centuries, three century opening stands - Ajinkya Rahane made the most of Shikhar Dhawan's absence by carrying on his West Indies form (336 runs at 67.20) with a 244-run series at 48.80. Rahane's technical proficiency came through when he led India's counter to Australia's fourth-stump line of attack in Kolkata. Despite a series of several highs, some old frailties reared their heads. Most notable of them being an inability to force the pace through the middle overs - a quality that had him relinquish his No.4 place under Dhoni. On more than one occasion in the series, in Indore and Nagpur, his free-flowing innings suffered a blip after 50 and a forced attempt at putting it back on course cost him his wicket. Rahane has three hundreds and 23 half-centuries from 84 games - just about decent given his constant moves up and down the batting order. But that's precisely where Dhawan (11 hundreds in 90 ODIs) and Rohit (14 hundreds) score above him - for their ability to kick on after half-century. Rahane's series strike-rate of 82.71 batting at the top is only slightly better than his career one of 78.71 and could do with another increment of five-six points.
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