After the enthralling end to the Test series, India and Australia are all set to lock horns in the three-match ODI series. The first game of the series will be played on 17th March in Mumbai followed by the second and third games to be played on 19th and 22nd March respectively.
Predicting India’s strongest Playing XI for the first ODI against Australia
With World Cup around the corner, India would want to cover all the bases and it’s fair to say that there’s no better opponent than Australia to fine-tune skills. As the first game is just a few days away from now, let’s take a look at India’s strongest Playing XI for the first ODI against Australia.
Skipper Rohit Sharma is not available for the first ODI due to family reasons. Therefore in his absence, Ishan Kishan is likely to open the innings alongside Shubman Gill. The duo has been in terrific white-ball form as they recently smashed double-centuries.
There’s no doubt that Virat Kohli will bat at No.3 in the ODIs. The batter has regained his form and has looked extremely good in the last few ODIs he played. Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the ODI series due to a back injury and Suryakumar Yadav will likely be at No.4 in the first game.
Steven Smith to continue captaining in the ODI series against India.
Pat Cummins will stay at home!
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KL Rahul is expected to keep the wickets and bat at No.5 whereas Hardik Pandya will captain the team in the first game and will play a crucial role with both bat and ball at No.6. The return of Ravindra Jadeja makes him a certainty in the team and it is likely that he will be slotted at No.7.
Shardul Thakur has been terrific with the bat in the lower order and has been bowling well. Therefore it is expected that he will be at No.8. Kuldeep Yadav is expected to get a nod ahead of other spinners because of his performances of late. Whereas Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj are expected to be two front-line pacers in the side.
#TeamIndia’s supremacy when batting first in ODIs has been unbeaten recently!🤯
Will they continue this streak against 🇦🇺? 🔥
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Friday | 12:30 PM onwards | Star Sports Network & Disney+Hotstar#RoadToWorldCup #BelieveInBlue #Cricket pic.twitter.com/bIspgXjFaM— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 14, 2023
Here’s India’s predicted playing XI for the first ODI
Ishan Kishan
Shubman Gill
Virat Kohli
Suryakumar Yadav
KL Rahul (WK)
Hardik Pandya (C)
Ravindra Jadeja
Shardul Thakur
Kuldeep Yadav
Mohammad Shami
Mohammed Siraj
Indian squad for the three-match ODI series against India
Here’s the Indian squad for the three-match ODI series against India
Rohit Sharma (c) (2nd and 3rd ODI) Yuzvendra Chahal, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (injured), Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Shardul Thakur, Umran Malik, Jaydev Unadkat, Washington Sundar, Suryakumar Yadav.
