India will look to bounce back strongly after suffering a comprehensive seven-wicket defeat in the first ODI against Australia in Perth. The second ODI is scheduled to take place at the iconic Adelaide
Oval on Thursday, October 23.
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan suggested that the Men in Blue could consider bringing Kuldeep Yadav back into the mix for the second ODI. In the first ODI, India didn't pick any specialist spinner in their side. All-rounders Washington Sundar and Axar Patel performed the spin-bowling duties.
According to Pathan, Kuldeep could replace either Sundar or Harshit Rana. Sundar scored a run-a-ball 10 with the bat and picked up one wicket in the two overs he bowled. On the other hand, Rana gave away 27 runs in his four-over spell.
"I feel that there are three ways in which India can have Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI. He can play in place of Washington Sundar and bat at No. 8, while Harshit Rana will play at No. 9. Or the team can say that they have three fast bowlers - Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, and Mohammed Siraj," Pathan said in a video on his YouTube channel.
"One of the three pacers can go out. Kuldeep Yadav can come in to replace Harshit Rana. In this case, Kuldeep will bat at No. 9, and India will have batting till No. 8, which they like," he added.
Kuldeep has been in scintillating form, winning the Player of the Tournament award in the T20 Asia Cup 2025. He followed it up with the Player of the Series award in the two Tests against the West Indies at home. Kuldeep has played three ODIs against Australia on Australian soil in the past. The left-arm wrist spinner has picked up three wickets at an economy rate of 5.90.
Apart from bringing the 30-year-old back into the playing XI, Pathan didn't opt for any other change for the second ODI.
Irfan Pathan's India playing XI for second ODI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav/Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav/Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.
India will want their top three batters to fire on all cylinders on Thursday. Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli registered scores of 8, 10, and 0, respectively. KL Rahul top-scored with a fluent 38 off 31 balls to help India get to 136/9 in 26 overs after the match was curtailed due to rain. Australia chased down the revised 131-run target in 21.1 overs.
