India eye clean sweep against Australia as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma return to the squad

With the ODI series win already in the bag, India will be taking the yard for the final fixture of the three-match series that will see Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Kuldeep Yadav returning to the Indian squad. 

Ahead of the massive home World Cup, coach Rahul Dravid has been posed with a tough choice to select the XI, with all the players having made a strong case for selection. Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer both went berserk in the last ODI against Australia and they will be hoping to get another match to continue showcasing their flair.

Virat and Rohit’s return would mean India will have to swap two of their batters while Kuldeep’s inclusion to the side may mean Ravichandran Ashwin sits out despite his fine bowling form. With so many questions to be answered, Dravid and company will be hoping to get the right combination in place before they head to the warm-up games and subsequently to the World Cup.

For Australia, too many questions loom large on the horizon as their batters have failed to conjure something significant. David Warner continues to be a major driving force while Marbus Labuschagne has been providing the consistent glimmer of hope for the Roos. However, unless they find their stride with a jam packed batting unit, the Yellow army may have to head to the World Cup with a frown on their visage.

Venue Watch:

This is a relatively new surface with just 3 ODIs being played here before this fixture. All three of them have been won batting first. Going by the numbers it is a featherbed as the average first innings score reads 311 while the average second innings score drops down to 290. With all said and done, it would be advisable to win the toss and opt to bat first.

Head to Head:

Matches played: 148

India – 56

Australia - 82

Match Details:

Match – India vs Australia

Venue: Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot

Date: 27th September, 2023

Time: 1:30 PM

Squads:

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Tilak Varma, Prasidh Krishna, R Ashwin, Washington Sundar.

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa