Shikhar Dhawan, the India opener, said his bowlers would continue attempting to put the Australian openers – Aaron Finch and Alex Carey – under pressure in the final one-day international on Friday, 18 January.

Carey and Finch haven’t been allowed to get away in the two ODIs so far. They haven’t put on more than 20 runs together in the two matches, and while Carey has aggregated 42 runs in two outings, Finch has managed just 12.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the Indian paceman, has cleaned up Finch in both matches, and the Australian captain is under pressure going into the final ODI. Dhawan said India would try to capitalise on that.

“To watch Virat and then MS do what he did at the end, it’s just a brilliant tutorial for our young batters."



There's a reason Langer isn't bitter about the loss in the second #AUSvIND ODI.



➡️ https://t.co/zu2rfLOG1U pic.twitter.com/32OwoJsAIw — ICC (@ICC) January 16, 2019

“We respect that Finch is a great player, we make sure our guard is up always," Dhawan said on the eve of the match. "The boys must have seen his weakness and they are implementing their plans quite nicely. They're not giving him singles that easily or even boundary options.

“Once you're creating that pressure to a batsman, especially in limited overs, that batsman is going to do something extra or take more risk to rotate the strike or to score more runs. That's where we're having the opportunity.”

"It is very important to take a break and feel fresh – we Indian cricketers don’t usually get it"

Dhawan was also delighted with the return to form of MS Dhoni. The veteran turned back time on Tuesday, scoring a half-century to help India finish a tense chase. “It was great to see a good team performance in the last one-day match against Australia,” he said.

“The way Dhoni played in both the games is really great. I am very happy that Dhoni is getting his touch back. A player of his stature, who plays the game with so much calmness, gives so much confidence to other batsmen. It is very important for us.”

As for his own game, Dhawan, who wasn't picked for the preceding Test series, said he was feeling rejuvenated after the break, and that he was in good rhythm. He was dismissed for nought in the first ODI, but scored a crisp 32 in Adelaide.

“I feel my rhythm was good, the way I was hitting the ball the day before yesterday,” he said. “I can sense it, feel how my batting is faring. Like I said, it is very important to take a break and feel fresh which we, the Indian cricketers, don’t usually get.

“It’s good to be back and looking forward to the match tomorrow and then the New Zealand tour as well.”