The third and final One Day International match between India and Australia is scheduled to take place in Chennai on March 22 (Wednesday). The series is currently tied at 1-1. The series opener in Mumbai saw Australia collapse for 188 and pay the price for it as India chased down the score with five wickets in hand. Well, the second game saw brutality from the visitors, who bundled out the Men in Blue for just 117 runs with Mitchell Starc then chasing down the target in just 11 overs with 10 wickets in hand.
India’s proud home record is at stake, even though the weather in Chennai is a bit choppy right now. It is currently raining heavily in major parts of India and Chennai is no different. The conditions are all set to be cloudy and will make the toss extremely important, as it has been in the first two ODIs. Teams batting first have struggled after scores of 188 and 117.
Will India bench Suryakumar Yadav?
Suryakumar Yadav is currently in focus with two golden ducks in the first two ODIs. He has also not scored enough runs in the last 10 ODI innings and calls for his ouster have increased. However, India do not have any specialist middle-order batsmen with Ishan Kishan and Washington Sundar on the bench. Too, Rohit Sharma Surya backed it by saying that he would get good chances with Shreyas Iyer out injured. Having said that, the Chennai ODI World Cup will be Suryakumar’s last chance in the year to make a mark in the format.
Read also: IND vs AUS 3rd ODI Live Streaming Details
What about David Warner?
Well it has been a strange week for David Warner. He has been appointed as the captain of Delhi Capitals IPL 2023 but the man has not played in the ODI series yet. According to steve smith, he was yet to recover from the injury sustained during the Test series but there was no update from the captain ahead of the second game. It was reported that Warner did not play due to a corked quad but the person specifically termed it as ‘fake news’. It remains to be seen whether Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh make it into the deciding XI especially after the way they batted in the previous outings.
Will Umran Malik play?
After India’s defeat in the second ODI, there has been a growing demand for Umran Malik’s inclusion in the playing XI. But who will he replace? Mohammed Shami And Mohammed Siraj has done well so far apart from a blip in the last game. Given the Chennai surface, the hosts will not go with three specialist fast bowlers. This means the pacer will get a chance only when either Siraj or Shami is rested.
What happened to Glenn Maxwell?
Well, Maxwell not playing the 2nd ODI certainly came as a surprise to many. Smith confirmed he was in slight pain but Australia are poor for selection among all-rounders. If Maxwell is fit, will he replace Nathan Ellis, who did well in Visakhapatnam?