India vs Australia 2017: Aaron Finch Looks Set To Miss Series-Opener

Australia opener Aaron Finch is in a race against time to be fit for the series-opener of the upcoming five-match series against India after he missed the team’s regular training session on Thursday (September 14) due to a calf problem. The right-handed batsman aggravated his right calf injury during the warm-up session in Chennai before walking out of the field to ice the injury. Finch was also rested from Australia’s warm-up match against Board President’s XI on Tuesday (September 12) due to the calf injury which he suffered while playing for Surrey in England last month.

Cricket.com.au, was has reported that Finch was expected to play in the first game after returning to training this week but is now doubtful for Sunday’s (September 17) clash. If Finch fails to recover from the injury in time, Australia might consider trying out Travis Head as an opener after Hilton Cartwright was dismissed for a duck in the practise tie. Head had opened the innings for Australia earlier this year and had slammed his maiden century against Pakistan on Australia Day. Moreover, his IPL experience also tilts the balance slightly in his favour.

The visitors have warmed-up for the challenging series against the high-flying hosts in style by thrashing Board President’s XI by 103 runs. Batting first, the visitors rode on half-centuries from David Warner, Steve Smith, Travis Head and Marcus Stoinis to post a daunting 347 for 7 in the allotted 50 overs. In reply, the Board President’s XI could score only 244 with Ashton Agar being the destructor-in-chief, taking 4 for 44.

Meanwhile, India will also not enter the series-opener with a full-strength side as their in-form Shikhar Dhawan has been allowed by the BCCI to skip the first three ODIs to remain with his unwell wife. Dhawan has been in sizzling form since returning to the team during the Champions Trophy and his absence will be a big blow for the Men in Blue. In his absence, Ajinkya Rahane is the front-runner to open the innings alongside Rohit Sharma.

Squads:

India (first three ODIs):

Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.

Australia:

Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.