IND vs AUS: 1st ODI Preview – World Cup curtain raiser begins

India and Australia will lock horns in a three-match ODI series starting on Friday, September 22 at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali. The two teams are coming into the three-match affair in contrasting stages as India were crowned champions of the Asia Cup 2023 while Australia lost to South Africa by 3-2.

However, the Kangaroos have had an upper hand over the Men in Blue having beaten them in three out of the last four series played between the two teams. They also beat them earlier this year in March in a three-match series by 2-1.

Hence, India will have their task cut out against the Aussies and will be eager to beat them ahead of the World Cup and carry the winning momentum in the mega event. Notably, the two teams will also meet in their World Cup opener on October 8 at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Talking about the squads, India have rested most of their senior players for the first two matches while Travis Head and Ashton Agar are unavailable for Australia for all three matches. To make matters worse for the Aussies, Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell are unavailable for the first match of the series but they will be chuffed by the returnees in Pat Cummins and Steve Smith.

Pitch Report

There have been a total of 25 matches played at the venue, out of which 15 have been won by teams batting first. However, in the last five ODIs, four have been won by teams batting second. The average first innings score has been 319 in the last five games while the highest target chased is 359. Captain winning the toss is likely to bowl first keeping the past record of the venue in mind.

Probable Playing XI:

India (IND)

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

Australia (AUS)

David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Sean Abbott, Pat Cummins (c), Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa