India look to seal series

March 19, 2023 13:11

Australia captain Steve Smith has won the toss and elected to field in Vizag on Sunday.

Smith expects help from the pitch after it was covered following a small spell of rain in the morning.

Australia have made two changes while India also make two changes with Rohit replacing Ishan and Axar coming in for Shardul.

With Rohit Sharma back, India will look to seal the ODI series

Playing XIs:

India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami

Australia: Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith(c), Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey(w), Cameron Green, Marcus Stoinis, Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

India defeated Australia by five wickets in a low-scoring game at the Wankhede Stadium, with KL Rahul, who struggled to find form during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and was dropped for the third and fourth Tests, scoring a patient unbeaten 75 to steer the hosts to a convincing five-wicket victory.

India's batters have occasionally looked tentative against quality left-arm pacers, and facing Starc in the remaining two games should give them good practice in home conditions, with efforts focused towards making preparations for the World Cup in October-November.

While not much should be read into Kohli and Gill's below-par scores in the first ODI, Suryakumar not being able to find his mojo in the 50-over format is a reason for concern.

India's bowling did a tremendous job in Mumbai with pacers Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj flourishing on a pace-friendly Wankhede pitch but wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav could not make a strong impression.

However, the team management is not expected to tinker with the bowling line-up, with Pandya playing the role of a third seamer to perfection.

Australia want to try out different combinations during the series. On Friday, they went in with four all-rounders -- Mitchell Marsh, Cameron Green, Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell -- and still couldn't trouble India much, which would be a concern for captain Steve Smith.

As a makeshift opener in the absence of David Warner, Marsh provided a rapid start with a 65-ball 81 but Australia lost the way in the middle overs, crashing from 129/2 to 188 all out against quality pace in Mumbai. The visitors lost six wickets for a meagre 19 runs despite having a deep batting line-up, something that they will look to work on.

Smith and Marnus Labuschagne may have encountered difficult pitches in the Test series but the wickets for ODIs in India are usually batter-friendly, and both the Aussie mainstays will be expected to do more.

Smith has not crossed the 50-run mark so far on this India tour. For someone who has a mountain of runs against India, the Australian stand-in skipper will look to end the drought.

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