India take on Australia in the first ODI in Mumbai on March 17. They won the Test series 2-1 heading into the ODI series. The Men in Blue also qualified for the WTC final and will play against the Aussies at the Oval from June 7-11.
Hardik Pandya will lead the side in the first ODI as Rohit Sharma is unavailable for selection in the first ODI. The likes of Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja will need to get into the ODI mode after playing four Tes matches in the last month and a half.
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The ODI series allows the selected players in the squad to perform and make a case for their selection in the ODI World Cup squad. There are also reports that the players in the squad will be rotated across three games.
Shreyas Iyer is ruled out of the series after aggravating his lower-back injury. He did not bat in the fourth Test after fielding for two days and recouping the injury in the process. The BCCI decided not to name a replacement for the middle-order batter.
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Kuldeep Yadav is another interesting selection. He was a part of the Test squad but did not get to play a game in the series. He is a part of the ODI squad as well and it will be interesting to see whether he gets a game in any of the three ODIs.
The management has the tough task of choosing the Indian playing XI from a galaxy of superstars. In this article, we take a look at the predicted playing XI for India for the first ODI against Australia.
IND vs AUS: India’s Playing XI For Australia, 1st ODI, 2023
Shubman Gill
Gill will open the batting for India. He has already scored 567 runs in just six ODIs this year at an average of 113.40 and a strike rate touching 130 with three hundreds. He is coming off a century in the fourth Test.
Ishan Kishan (WK)
Kishan will open the batting alongside Shubman Gill. The southpaw did not play in any of the four Test matches against Australia. He has struggled in the three games he has played this year scoring just 30 runs at an average of 10. Kishan scored his maiden ODI double ton against Bangladesh in December 2022.
Virat Kohli
The former Indian skipper will slot in at three. He is just 191 runs away from getting to 13000 ODI runs. He will be facing Adam Zampa who has dismissed him five times in ODIs. Kohli recently scored his 28th Test ton after a long gap of three years in the fourth Test.
Suryakumar Yadav
SKY will slot in at four. His ODI career has not yet got the start that his T20I career has. The right-hander has played 20 ODIs and scored just 433 runs at an average of 28.87 with just two fifties. He has to make this series count.
Hardik Pandya (C)
Hardik Pandya, the skipper will slot in at five. Since taking up captaincy, Pandya has matured as a cricketer and has also been bowling consistently in ODIs and T20Is. It will be interesting to see how he leads the side in the first ODI.
Ravindra Jadeja
Jadeja is making a comeback into ODI cricket. He played his last ODI in July 2022 against England. His return certainly strengthens the lower-middle order and his fielding is always a bonus.
Shardul Thakur / Washington Sundar
Depending on the team combination, one among Shardul or Sundar can play in the XI. Both are good all-rounders and can do the job that will be assigned to them.
Mohammed Shami
Shami will lead the pace attack for India. He bowled beautifully in the Test series against Australia picking up nine wickets from three Tests. In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, he is the leader of the attack. He has picked up seven wickets from five games so far this year.
Mohammed Siraj
Siraj will partner with Shami from the other end. He has also been bowling well in ODIs. So far he picked up 38 wickets in 21 ODIs. This year he has taken 14 wickets in five ODIs so far.
Yuzvendra Chahal
Chahal will be one of the two specialist spinners in the lineup. He has picked up 121 wickets in 72 ODIs. The leggie has picked up just three wickets in two ODIs this year.
Kuldeep Yadav
Kuldeep should be a part of the playing XI for the first ODI. He was benched from the Test series and will be a good selection for the first ODI. He has bowled well in tandem with Chahal and can work his magic once again. He has already picked up 11 wickets in five ODIs this year.
Virat Kohli | Rohit Sharma | Rishabh Pant | KL Rahul | Suryakumar Yadav | Sanju Samson | Shreyas Iyer | Yuzvendra Chahal | Jasprit Bumrah
