🏏Australia vs. India: 3rd ODI at Rajkot on 27/09/2023 D/N🏏

🏏Australia vs. India: 3rd ODI at Rajkot on 27/09/2023 D/N🏏

The first and second ODI matches were won by the Indian team, and the team is leading the series by 2-0. In the 1st ODI match, India won the match by 5 wickets, and in the 2nd match, India also won this match by 99 runs.

Team India will look to complete a whitewash when they face Australia in the third and final ODI of the three-match series at the SCA Stadium in Rajkot on Wednesday (September 27).

Both India and Australia may field their World Cup playing 11 as they look for one final warm-up before the real warm-up matches and the actual tournament begin on October 5.

So, regular skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Pandya will come straight into the eleven along with Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested, for India.

For the visitors, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Marsh and skipper Cummins are likely to play.

According to team management's new rotational policy, Captain Rohit Sharma and former skipper Virat Kohli are back from their short rest for the final ODI match

Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah is expected to be back for the third ODI against Australia after being given a one-match break.

Indian squad hit by viral sickness; five players, including Gill unavailable for 3rd ODI against Australia

And it's a venue where India has won only once in three ODI matches

Pitch Report

Like most surfaces in India, the wickets at the SCA Stadium are also known to be batter-friendly, producing big-scoring matches on the domestic and international stages.

In the three ODIs held at the venue so far, all the matches have been won by the team batting first.

But it has not been one of those venues where runs on the board will give room for comfort for the team defending, as all three matches have been close contests, with four innings in two matches seeing totals cross over 300.

The only time the total did not cross 300, India lost to South Africa when chasing 270 and fell short by 18 runs.

However, India secured their first ODI win at the venue in the most recent outing and coincidentally, the opponent on that night was also Australia.

The last five ODI results of both teams

India - W-W-W-L-W

Australia - L-L-L-L-L

Thanks for the tag Madhu.

Let the team clean sweep.

Cheers..

The Rajkot pitch has seen four 300-plus totals in the past, especially in the last 2020 game the team who batted first posted 360 for 6. Looking at India's form in the last two games, it won't be surprising if we see a

Predicted Playing XI

India

Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah

Australia

Mitchell Marsh, David Warner, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

Sept 27, 2023 10:41 AM

fighting total of 300 runs or beyond.

Shreyas Iyer flexible to bat anywhere in the playing XI in ODI World Cup

"I'm flexible about whatever number I'd be getting to bat. (It's) wherever the team requires at that point of time - if I have to go lower down the order, or up the order. There's competition and that's the best part about this team ... as a professional, I can't be complaining about that," Iyer said in the build up to the third ODI in Rajkot on Wednesday.

"All I can say is I will embrace the opportunity that I'd be getting in the future and leave no stone unturned in my preparation," he added.

What to expect: More runs, no rain. A sunny day with temperatures touching 35 degrees Celsius is expected. The flat deck at the venue should aid batters again. In four out of the six ODI innings at the venue, the 300-mark has been breached. The last ODI here in January 2020, incidentally between India and Australia - saw the hosts score 340 and the visitors respond with 304.

Team News:

India: While Rohit returns to lead the team, he revealed that he has just 13 players to pick from. India are depleted through a combination of resting players, a few of them going home due to personal reasons and an injury. Rohit also said that a viral fever is going around in the squad and the aim was to keep them fit and ready for the World Cup.

India will be without Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur and Hardik Pandya, who have all returned home, while Axar Patel is out injured and Shubman Gill has been rested. This means Rohit in reality has just 12 players to pick from.

Did you know:

- Rohit Sharma averages 59.23 against Australia in ODIs with 8 fifties and 8 hundreds against this opposition

- Since 2022, Mohammed Siraj has 32 PowerPlay wickets in the format, at an incredible economy rate of 4.16 in this phase.

What they said:

"Ashwin, he's got the class, the experience of playing the sport, and the pressure. Just that he hasn't played ODIs in the last year or so. You cannot take away the class or experience that the individual has over the years, and in the last couple of games, we saw how well he bowled. He's got a lot of variations up his sleeve. In case there is a chance, obviously we can look at a lot of things. Hopefully, the way things are at this point, it does well for us because we have all the backups and everything ready. We've given them enough game time. A lot of time in the middle as well, so pretty much happy with how things have panned out in the last couple of weeks." - Rohit Sharma

"Obviously, leading into the World Cup, it is not a position we want to be in, but plenty to play for tomorrow - what the make-up of our team looks like, what we want to take into our World Cup campaign." - Mitchell Starc

On paper, this is the last ODI for these two teams before the all important World Cup. While they’ll still have a couple more warm-up games before the actual tournament, this game will serve as an opportunity to make sure everything is strapped in tight and bolted firmly in place. While the Indian team looks largely settled, there still are a couple of questions that remain unanswered and consequently, a couple of spots up for grabs. Most notably, this game will be a chance for Ravichandran Ashwin, who’s remarkably somehow found himself back in the fray just before another World Cup, to make sure he books his tickets to the grand tournament as a player. There’s also a middle-order slot up for grabs with three different players, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan vying for it and a solid performance in today’s game may go a long way in tilting the odds in their favor. India’s senior stalwarts are expected to return for this game and they’ll be looking to field an XI that’s as close to the one they’ll want to field in the World Cup. For Australia, it’s one final opportunity to get some vital preparation in these conditions. Stick around then, toss and teams coming your way shortly.

Australia were bamboozled by Ashwin and Jadeja on Sunday and now they may have to deep with Kuldeep Yadav today. Abhimanyu Bose has delved into Kuldeep 2.0 in this analysis of India's in-form wrist-spinner.

pramod : "i got one suggestion for ICC- why can't warm up games can be played against team which does not get qualified for main event so that those team will also get little exposure and many competitive teams are there like WI, ZIM, IRELAND, NEPAL, UAE ETC" Interesting idea Pramod. The cost of flying those teams out to India for only one or two games might be a prohibitor.

Tapas: "who will open today with Rohit? Kishan or KL?" Suggestions are it could be Ishan Kishan. That seems the logical choice but we shall see.