Mumbai,
The Australian cricket team, which is touring India, lost the Test series by 1-2. Next up is a 3-match ODI series. According to this, the first one-day cricket match between India and Australia will be played as a day-night match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai today (Friday).
With India hosting the 50-over World Cup in October-November, this series will be the foundation to prepare the team for it with proper planning. The strategies of both the teams will be towards that.
No Rohit
In the Indian team, the captain Rohit Sharma will not play only in the opening match due to his marriage to a close relative. All-rounder Hardik Pandya leads the side in his place. With Subman Gill in Rohit’s absence, Ishan Kishan will be the opening batsman, confirmed captain Hardik Pandya.
Suryakumar Yadav, who is the ‘number one’ batsman in 20-over cricket, has yet to shine in one-day matches. He has scored 6, 4, 31 and 14 runs in his last 4 ODI innings. With Shreyas Iyer on the sidelines due to injury, he needs to make the most of this golden opportunity.
Goalie towards achievement
Star player Virat Kohli will enter the field with added confidence after scoring a century in the Ahmedabad Test. Kohli has scored 46 centuries in total with 3 centuries in the last 7 innings in ODI cricket. He needs 3 more centuries to equal Sachin Tendulkar as the top scorer in ODIs.
Kohli also needs one more century to equal Tendulkar’s record of most centuries against Australia (9 centuries). Even if Virat Kohli scores a hundred in any game in this series, it will be a celebration for the fans.
Otherwise, Hardik Pandya and Lokesh Rahul are also adding strength to the batting. In terms of bowling, Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav and others are looking forward to bowling with discipline.
How about Australia?
Australian team is also very strong compared to India. Australian captain Cummins returned home midway through the Test series due to his mother’s ill health. His mother has died there and he is staying with his family in this sad environment. Due to this, he left the series one day. Steven Sumit will take over the captaincy of Australia.
They will be buoyed by the return of all-rounders Cline Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh from injury. David Warner, who has recovered from an elbow injury, is also set for a run chase. Adam Zamba, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Ellis provide confidence in the bowling.
All in all, there is no doubt that the heat will fly as both the teams will struggle with almost equal strength in both bowling and batting.
The Indian team has taken the oath in all 6 ODIs played in the country this year. Similarly, Australia have won their last 6 ODIs. It will also be interesting to see whose streak will come to an end.
Field overview
Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium is generally batting friendly so expect a run feast. The Indian team has so far played 19 ODIs here, winning 10 and losing 9. This included playing 4 matches against Australia and losing 3 of them.
South Africa’s 438 for 4 against India in 2015 is the highest by a team at this ground. It may be recalled that the last time India were bowled out for 255 against Australia in a match here in January 2020, Australia chased down that target with 12 overs remaining without the loss of a wicket.
At 1.30 pm…
The proposed list of the two teams for the tournament is as follows:-
India: Subman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav or Rajat Patidar, Lokesh Rahul, Hardik Pandya (captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav or Yuzvendra Chahal or Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami or Umran Malik.
Australia: David Warner, Travis Head, Steven Smith (captain), Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh or Marcus Stoinis, Maxwell, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zamba, Sean Abbott or Nathan Ellis.
The match starts at 1.30 pm and will be telecasted live by Star Sports channels.
So far…
India and Australia have faced each other in 143 ODI matches so far. Australia has won 80 of these and India has won 53 of them. Not finished in 10 games.
This will be the 11th time that Australia will play a live ODI series on Indian soil. The previous 10 series were won by both the teams by 5 percent each.
How will the rankings change?
In the ODI rankings, India are at the top with 114 points, followed by Australia at the 2nd position with 112 points. Team India needs to win this series to retain the ‘number one’ spot. On the contrary, if Australia wins the series, the team will advance to the top spot. If the Indian team wins the series by 3-0, they will increase the points tally to 117 and travel majestically at the top. Then Australia will be pushed to the 4th place with 111 points. At the same time, India will lose 0-3 and will fall to the 4th position.