India and Australia have been two of the most dominant ODI teams in World Cricket over the last decade. Their rivalry has always sparked a lot of interest and more so when the action has taken place in Australia. India are all set to lock horns with the hosts in a three-match ODI series starting 27th of November once again. Both sides have named strong squads for the series and hence, it promises to be an exciting battle.
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Indian and Australia have locked horns in five bilateral ODI series since the 2015 World Cup and the visitors have the edge as they have won three series, with Australia winning the other two. But all of them have been quite close contests. If the results of the last three series are taken into account, two of them ended up in India’s favor with a 2-1 margin of victory. Australia, though, won 3-2 in tough subcontinental conditions in 2019 and thus proved that they are still the same force they used to be a decade back.
Team Analysis
It looks like both sides have covered most bases considering the roster of players they have named for the series.
India will miss the services of Rohit Sharma due to injury but they have equally strong top-order options in Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal to go along with Shikhar Dhawan. The middle-order looks quite solid as well with the likes of Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul supposed to bat at number 3, 4, and 5 respectively. Rahul will be the Wicket-Keeper with Sanju Samson in the reserves.
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Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja will be the two all-round options but it remains to be seen whether Pandya will bowl. He didn’t bowl at all during the recently concluded Indian T20 League. India have pacers like Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami in their ranks, both of whom will start. Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur are also there and one of them might get a chance to play if Hardik isn’t fit to bowl. Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav are the lead spinners in the side but the latter might sit out if India need to play an extra pacer.
As far as the Australian squad goes, Cameron Green and Daniel Sams have got their maiden call-up whereas Moises Henriques and Sean Abbott have been recalled as well. Apart from them, the usual suspects like Aaron Finch, David Warner, Steven Smith, and Marnus Labuschagne are already there to form a strong top four. Alex Carey and Matthew Wade are the two Wicket-Keeping options and the former will be the first-choice player for the XI.
Both Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis are expected to play as the two main all-rounders. Adam Zampa will be the lead spinner of the side whereas Ashton Agar is expected to get some games as well. Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood form a strong pace bowling trio and thus they are expected to make life difficult for the Indian batsmen.
Source: Twitter (Cricket Australia)
Squads:
Australia: Aaron Finch (C), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey (WK), Pat Cummins (VC), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Sams, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (WK), David Warner, Adam Zampa
India: Virat Kohli (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (WK & VC), Sanju Samson (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur.
Probable Playing XIs
Australia: Aaron Finch (C), David Warner, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey (WK), Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell/Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal/Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli (C), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Navdeep Saini, Mohammad Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah
Fixtures:
First ODI: November 27, SCG, 9:10 AM IST
Second ODI: November 29, SCG, 9:10 AM IST
Third ODI: December 2, Manuka Oval, 9:10 AM IST