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Regular skipper Rohit Sharma’s absence from the first ODI against Australia at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai has opened the door for KL Rahul to return to the One-Day side on Friday (March 17). However, Rahul, who was dropped from the Test side after the second Test against Australia last month, will not be opening the batting with in-form Shubman Gill but will be batting in the middle order.
In Rohit’s absence, his Mumbai Indians teammate Ishan Kishan will be opening the batting with Gill in the first ODI. India will also miss the services of middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer, who is ruled out of the ODI series due to back injury.
Iyer’s absence means that Suryakumar Yadav will get three more chances to solidify his credentials in the ODI format. ‘SKY’, who is the No. 1 batter in T20 cricket is yet to perform to his high standards in ODI cricket and averages a modest 28 in this format.
The toss ups will be in terms of the all-rounders – with stand-in skipper Hardik Pandya needing to take a call between Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur. It will be interesting to see if India will play ‘KulCha’ together or opt for anyone of them between Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.
__#INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/udHBqZQ8yn
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 16, 2023
The Australians, on the other hand, will welcome the return of David Warner, Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh from injuries. Maxwell was forced out of international cricket after T20 World Cup 2022 after a freak accident in which he broke his leg.
The bowling attack will feature Nathan Ellis, who will be replacing regular skipper Pat Cummins, who is back home in Sydney after the death of his moth last week.
India: Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya (C), Ravindra Jadeja, Ishan Kishan, Kuldeep Yadav/Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur/Washington Sundar
Australia: Steve Smith (C), Marnus Labuschagne, David Warner, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Nathan Ellis
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