Mohali, Sep 22 (UNI) India Captain KL Rahul won the toss and opted to field against Australia in the first of the three ODI matches at IS Bindra Stadium here on Friday.
The biggest news coming from the middle is the inclusion of Ravichandran Ashwin into the Playing XI. The star spinner gets his first ODI match since January 2022.
Rahul is donning the captain's hat in the absence of skipper Rohit Sharma who has been rested for the first two ODIs in view of ICC Cricket World Cup to be held in India.
The national selectors also have rested Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav for the first two games for the same reason. In their absence, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Suryakumar Yadav have sneaked into the Playing XI.
On the other hand, the full-fledged Aussie squad will take this encounter as a good practise match in the runup to the World Cup.
The Kangaroo captain Pat Cummins has included medium-fast Sean Abbott who could pose some serious questions to the Indian batsmen on a Mohali pitch that's historically had some zest for the seamers.
Teams
India (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w/c), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami
Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis(w), Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Short, Pat Cummins(c), Sean Abbott, Adam Zampa
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