Chennai: Ishan Kishan will open the Indian innings alongside captain Rohit Sharma in place of Shubman Gill, out due to illness, as Australia won the toss and elected to bat first against India in the fifth match of 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup, here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday.
As expected, India are playing a three-pronged spin attack in Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav and local lad Ravichandran Ashwin on a pitch which is a little bit on the slower side and looks dry. Ishan had opened the innings for India on tour of West Indies in July and got three consecutive fifties, apart from a spectacular 210 against Bangladesh in Chattogram last year.
“The conditions are there for the bowlers and the ball will turn as the game goes on, you need to understand what line and lengths to bowl and adjust accordingly. We played a lot of cricket before that, we played two good series before the warm up games, we have covered all bases,” said Rohit.
Australia captain Pat Cummins said all-rounder Marcus Stoinis misses out, having been in doubt to play the game due to hamstring niggle. “Looks like a good wicket. The sun is out and looks like a good afternoon to bat. We are in a really good spot, we have played quite a lot of cricket but we got a good balance of giving guys game time and keeping them fresh.”
Australia lead the head-to-head record against India in World Cup encounters with 8-4. India and Australia competed in a three-match series last month, where the hosts’ won 2-1.
Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj
Australia: David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wicket-keeper), Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa
(IANS)
