'Same mistakes' proving costly for erring Aussies

Sean Abbott believes he and Australia's bowling attack are heading in the right direction despite narrowly avoiding conceding 400 for the second time in four matches.

A concerning trend ahead of next month's ODI World Cup has seen Australia give up an average score of 350 at 6.80 runs per over in their past five matches, with India putting on 5-399 in the second ODI in Indore on Sunday to sink the visitors to their fifth-straight defeat.

It was with the bat rather than the ball where Abbott was one of his side's better performers, whacking 54 from 36 deliveries to restore some respectability to the scorecard after Australia fell to 8-140 chasing a revised target of 317 in 33 overs.

But the five-time world champions' issues with the ball are spelled out no more starkly than in the number of sixes they've conceded in their past six one-day internationals (75), which is more than they had given up in the 24 matches preceding those.

Abbott has given up nine of those sixes (the third-most behind Adam Zampa's 19 and Cameron Green's 12) during that period but was one of Australia's most economical bowlers in the 3-2 series loss to South Africa with an economy rate of 5.87.

He also started the three-match series against India well, going at 5.79 runs per over in the first ODI for a return of 1-56 before giving up 91 runs from 10 overs in the second game at Holkar Stadium on Sunday.

"It showed today when we were bowling, and it was a little bit the same in South Africa, every ball that missed the stumps was put away to the fence," Abbott said follow the 99-run (DLS method) loss that saw India clinch the series with a game to come on Wednesday.

"It's not surprising … if you don't execute like we did today, and last game, they're just going to dine out and we're not putting them under much pressure.

"It's disappointing, especially from my end. I'd had a poor Powerplay (after) a pretty good Powerplay last game.

"But I pride myself on the areas that I bowl and putting pressure on the batsman that way and I've just noticed this tour, so far in these first two games and then in South Africa, the batters are just too good; as soon as you're off the stumps or pitching outside leg, they're not going to miss out.

"When we missed the stumps, especially up top, we were punished pretty badly, and we didn't execute greatly with the ball."

Australia has three more 50-over matches (Wednesday's third ODI and two warm-up fixtures against the Netherlands and Pakistan) ahead of their World Cup opener against India in Chennai on October 8.

They're likely to be boosted by the returns of captain Pat Cummins who was rested from Sunday's match in Indore and left-armer Mitchell Starc who has been recovering from a groin issue.

Abbott said there was no panic in the dressing room despite incurring losses of more than 100 runs in three of their past five matches along with a 99-run defeat on Sunday.

"It's far from ideal," the 31-year-old right-armer said. "We're communicating well out on the ground, but we've just not executed as well as we would have liked.

"I feel like I've made some of the same mistakes a couple of games in a row now.

"But I still feel like my game is in a good place and going in the right direction, I've just got to get out there and do it, and I know a couple of other guys feel the same.

"It is an extremely good dressing room to be in; we're extremely disappointed that we've not executed as well as we would have liked but we're moving forward.

"Although we went for 400 again, I thought our death bowling was pretty good (Australia conceded 103 runs in the final 10 overs).

"It can still be improved a lot but our execution in bringing those stumps into play, owning our lengths and putting pressure on the batters that way certainly has to improve, and I have no doubt of that, we've got a very skilled attack.

"We're doing some right things moving into the World Cup, we just haven't put them out there on the park yet so I'm confident we can turn that around pretty quickly."

2023 Qantas Tour of India

September 22: India win by five wickets

September 24: India won by 99 runs (DLS method)

September 27: Third ODI, Rajkot (D/N), 6pm AEST

Australia ODI squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa

India squad for first two ODIs: KL Rahul (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan , Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

India squad for the third ODI: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj