🏏IND vs AUS ODI Series: 1st ODI on 17/03/23 at Wankhede, Mumbai🏏

🏏India vs Australia - 1st ODI: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai 17th March 2023 at 1:30PM IST🏏

India and Australia reacquaint themselves with ODI rhythms

This three-match series though seems to have lost top billing to the IPL and the Test Championship final

Sandwiched between the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and IPL 2023, the ODI series between India and Australia doesn't seem to have top billing. Even days out from the opening Test, everyone jumped on the BGT hype train, and minutes after the final one ended in a draw, India's coach Rahul Dravid was asked how he would manage the IPL players in the lead-up to the World Test Championship (WTC) final at The Oval in June. A day after that, Australia allrounder Cameron Green, who was bought for INR 17.5 crore (USD 2.1 million) by Mumbai Indians, joined his IPL coach Mark Boucher and team-mate Ishan Kishan on the sidelines of a WPL game.

This three-match ODI series isn't part of the World Cup Super League either, but it's a chance for both India and Australia to fine-tune their plans for the ODI World Cup, which is also around the corner. Australia haven't played ODI cricket since they swept England 3-0 at home in November last year, almost immediately after the 2022 T20 World Cup, and are still getting used to life after Aaron Finch's international retirement. David Warner is working his way back from an elbow injury and a barren run in the first half of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. In his first crack at Finch's opening role, Head rattled off scores of 69, 19, and 152 against England and in his first crack at opening the batting in Test cricket in place of Warner, he enhanced his reputation even further. Glenn Maxwell is also back from injury, but Australia will have to contend with the absence of both Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.

Fast bowler Jhye Richardson has also joined Australia's absentee list, but they would do well to remind themselves that they are the only team to have beaten India in a bilateral ODI series in India since 2016. Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann have returned home, and now it's over to Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar, the white-ball specialists.

India have to navigate through challenges of their own. Shreyas Iyer will miss his second successive ODI series with injury while Rohit Sharma will not be available for the first game in Mumbai because of family commitments. Jasprit Bumrah faces a race against time to be fit for the ODI World Cup, but in his absence, Mohammed Siraj has emerged as the leader of the pace pack. Shardul Thakur, who made a successful comeback during the ODI series against New Zealand earlier this year, lends greater balance to the side along with the returning Ravindra Jadeja. With all of Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal available for this series, India are spoiled for choice on the spin front.

Weather Forecast in Mumbai

According to the report, sunny weather is expected during the time of this match. There is absolutely no forecast of rain at the time of this game. The temperature would hover between 27-33 degrees Celsius. The temperature would expectedly fall in the evening.

Wankhede Stadium Pitch Report

Wankhede Stadium is known for producing high-scoring matches and we can expect something similar during the IND vs AUS 1st ODI. The new ball bowlers might get a bit of help during the first few overs. The pitch usually stays similar throughout the game, offering great help to the batters.

India vs Australia Probable XIs

India

Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya (C), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar/Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal/Mohammed Shami.

Australia

David Warner, Travis Head, Steve Smith (C), Marnus Labuschagne, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Sean Abbott, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa

India vs Australia Match Prediction

Both teams are power-packed and have a strong batting lineup. Defending scores at the Wankhede isn't easy and hence the chasing team should come up trumps.

Prediction: The team batting second to win.

In the spotlight: Ishan Kishan and Adam Zampa

Rohit is out of the first ODI, but India have so much depth that they can replace him with another ODI double-centurion Ishan Kishan. He will partner India's latest ODI double-centurion Shubman Gill. Since his scorching 210 in Chattogram in December last year, Kishan's form has cooled off. With Rohit set to return for the second ODI in Visakhapatnam and KL Rahul set to be India's first-choice keeper in Rishabh Pant's absence, this might be a big chance for Kishan to shake things up, ahead of the World Cup.

Six years ago, Hardik Pandya had said: "I knew that I could hit a six off him [Adam Zampa] anytime I wanted to," at a press conference. Zampa has now evolved into one of the best white-ball spinners and recent numbers back that claim. Since the end of the 2019 ODI World Cup, Zampa has taken 62 wickets in 37 matches at a strike rate of 24.7 and economy rate of just under five. No other spinner from Full-Member nations has more wickets than Zampa during this period. In the inaugural ILT20 in the UAE, Zampa was Dubai Capitals' joint-highest wicket-taker with nine strikes at an economy rate of below five once again, despite having played just four matches.

Stats and Trivia: Beware of Warner

• Warner has scored 391 runs in eight ODI innings in India at an average of 55.85 and strike rate of just less than 100.
• Siraj has a strike rate of 25.3 - the second best, behind Trent Boult, among bowlers from Full-Member nations with at least 20 wickets since the end of the 2019 ODI World Cup.
• Rahul has lost his Test spot, but his ODI numbers for India at No. 5 are impressive: 658 runs in 16 innings at an average of 50.61 and strike rate of 102.17, with one hundred and six half-centuries.

Thanks for the tag Raji

i will b here today

ODI cricket returns to the Wankhede Stadium after 3 years, though most Mumbai fans wouldn’t want to remember about the last game played at their city, which was against the same opposition of today. Back then, Australia trounced the hosts by 10 wickets, chasing down a target of 255 with a bit of a song and a dance. That however has been forgotten as a freak result, and today there is a lot more optimism around Mumbai, especially after India retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy yet again.

There was a bit of unseasonal overnight rain in Mumbai, and the day has been a bit cooler than usual. We can expect a new deck primmed just for this game at the Wankhede, one that should have a true nature and nice carry. Perfect cricket playing conditions, let's hope for a cracking game...

India have won 8 consecutive ODI games on home turf, and find a good balance of youth and experience in their side with newcomers like Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan blending in seamlessly to the format. They will be without their usual skipper in Rohit Sharma, but Hardik Pandya has looked as comfortable as ever when asked to deputize in limited overs. Australia on the other hand will also be led by a new captain, or should we say a returning captain as Steve Smith continues to take charge in Pat Cummins’ absence. They also have a few white ball experts back in the fray in David Warner, Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Marsh and Marcus Stoinis.

Mitchell Marsh: Always a pleasure, love coming here, beautiful to be back in India. Back home for me in Perth, it's been one of the hotter months we've had, hopefully I am a little bit acclimatised. It's certainly feeling very hot out here in the sun. Feeling really good, had a bit of a layoff, was able to get some domestic games back in Perth. Feeling really confident ahead of this. Should be a ripping series - No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the world - so it should be great. I am (playing as a pure batter). Probably a couple of weeks away from bowling. Just allowing the ankle to have a full rehabilitation and hope I'll be back bowling at some stage during the IPL. It's always a beautiful place to play, hopefully we can all cash in.