Australia and India meet in the first of a three-match ODI series, to be played at the Perth Stadium, on Sunday, October 19. Australia, with their regular captain Pat Cummins absent, will be led by all-rounder Mitchell Marsh, while India too have a new captain in the form of Shubman Gill. The Indian selectors took the brave call of naming Test captain Gill as the leader in the ODI format as well, overlooking Rohit Sharma, who last led India to victory in the ICC Champions Trophy in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year. Sharma, 38, is unlikely to be a part of the Indian squad for the next ODI World Cup in 2027, and hence, was not made a part of the leadership group.
Along with the legendary Virat Kohli, Sharma was named in the Indian team for this series and will be expected to get them off to good starts in the power play. The pitch here in Perth is known for its true bounce, and for India, it may end up becoming a trial by fire, given that they have only just come from Delhi after defeating the West Indies in a Test series. The pitches that they played on against the Windies were starkly different from the ones they will encounter Down Under, and this will play a big role in hampering their plans.
This is even more so since they hardly had any time at all to prepare for this series, as the second Test against the Windies ended on Tuesday, October 14. Australia do not have many experienced names in their batting unit, save Travis Head and Marsh, but this will not deter them much. Since they know these conditions well and have a good idea of the scores they wish to put on the board, the Kangaroos will always feel that they can dominate their visitors.
Predicted Teams
AUS: Travis Head, Matthew Short, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Marsh (c), Josh Philippe (wk), Cameron Green, Mitchell Owen, Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood.
IND: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh.
Key Players
Travis Head (AUS): India fans know Travis Head very well, given how comfortably he dismantled their bowling unit in the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup in Ahmedabad. Moreover, Head has consistently shown how dangerous he is by getting his Indian Premier League team, Sunrisers Hyderabad, off to explosive starts. The southpaw is known for being extremely strong on the cut and pull strokes, and India will look to not feed him in these zones.
Virat Kohli (IND): Former India captain and one of the best ODI batters in the world, Virat Kohli, has long been written off for not being a contender for the squad for the 2027 ODI World Cup. However, given how fit he is, one can never count Kohli out, and he will look to make the most of every opportunity he gets in this series to cement his spot. Kohli is strong off his pads, but has lately been firm through the covers region too. Australia will be wary of sending any looseners down his way when he is new to the crease.
Match Prediction
Australia are the favourites to win this match because of their better preparations as well as their knowledge of this surface. India will barely have any time to get settled down and train on this pitch, and this may end up working against them. The Aussies have a fine bowling unit and will be expected to play senior players Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, both in the XI. India, too, will look to do the same and aim to play three seamers and one all-rounder, but their bowlers may have to work a bit harder to get the right lines and lengths on this seamer-friendly surface. This is because they just arrived from playing on turning pitches against the West Indies.