With the 2023 World Cup on the cards later in the year, the ODI series between the two main contenders – India and Australia – will hold a lot of value. Both teams will aim to tick the right boxes at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai when they meet each other on Friday.
With the bereft of the 50-overs series in the recent past, both teams will look to hit the ground running against each other. We look at the current form, head-to-head, players to look out for, and squads of both teams in our match preview.
Current form of Australia: W W W W W
Australia had clean swept arch-rivals England and New Zealand in their last two three-match ODI series but they had played back in November 2022. Steve Smith will lead in Pat Cummins’s absence whereas all-rounders like Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, and Glenn Maxwell will add strength to Australia’s squad.
Current form of India: W W W W W
India also whitewashed New Zealand and Sri Lanka in their last two ODI series while playing in their own conditions. Thus, the hosts will want to continue their domination in the home conditions against the Australian team. Rohit Sharma will miss the first ODI due to personal reasons.
Head to Head: Matches: 143, Won by Australia: 80, Won by India: 53, No Result: 10.
Australia holds the advantage against India in the head-to-head contest.
Players to watch out for: Hardik Pandya, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammed Siraj will hold the key for India.
David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Starc, Travis Head, and Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, and Glenn Maxwell will be the crucial players for Australia.
Australia
Steve Smith (c) Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa, David Warner.
India
Rohit Sharma (c), Yuzvendra Chahal, Ishan Kishan, 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.
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