The Indian cricket team embark on their journey in the World Cup Super League by taking on Australia in their own backyard. Even though Team India is already qualified for the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, being the home nation, still this series acts as a buildup for a team who struggled to get the combination right last time around in 2019 in England.
The long-awaited Australian home season will kickstart with a brisk ODI series against India.
INDIA
The Indian cricket team will be without their ‘Hitman’ Rohit Sharma who is arguably the best white-ball batsman India has. Rohit has been struggling with a hamstring injury and is set to miss out the limited overs edition of this tour.
The two openers in Rohit’s absence would be Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul who were the highest run-getters in the recently concluded Indian T20 League. Rahul has been handed the added responsibility of being the vice-captain of the team and is also going to keep wickets in the white-ball matches.
Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer at number three pretty much pick themselves at three and four but the batsman at number five is a question mark. Would Sanju Samson make his ODI debut in the series? Or will India back the ever-reliant Manish Pandey to take that spot?
Hardik Pandya didn’t bowl a single ball in the Indian T20 League so Ravindra Jadeja becomes the only all-rounder in the squad. The bowling line-up is strong with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Overall the team is looking balanced and ready to script yet another series win Down Under.
PREDICTED INDIAN XI
Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul (WK), Virat Kohli (C), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal
AUSTRALIA
The last series for the Aussies was a successful one as they went on to beat the World Champions, England away from home. They have started setting the blocks for the upcoming World Cup and this series will help them gauge where they stand currently against few of the best players in the world. Steven Smith missed the last ODI series due to concussion and is all set to comeback in the team. Mitchell Marsh is ruled out of the series due to an injury so there are going to be some changes to the team that won the ODI series in the UK.
Western Australia all-rounder Cameron Green has been picked in the squad but his inexperience in the List A format is a concern. Coach Justin Langer has explicitly mentioned that Green would play if he’s able to fulfil a full role with the ball as well. After Kane Richardson backed out, the backup for Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood isn’t ideal. And lastly, Glenn Maxwell is coming on the back of a horrendous campaign in the Indian T20 League but his recent ODI record has been very positive.
PREDICTED AUSTRALIAN XI
David Warner, Aaron Finch (C), Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (WK), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
WHERE TO WATCH
Fans can catch the Indian cricket team live on the Sony network and the live stream on SonyLiv.
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