Aus v Ind 1st ODI Preview: New look world champions face Indian challenge

This series holds similar importance for both Australia and India. Both the teams have included a handful of new names in their squads and the youngsters will try to make the most of the opportunity they are likely to receive. The home advantage is with Australia and India would definitely find it difficult to overcome this challenge. However, MS Dhoni & Co. would still fancy their chances against a relatively weaker Australian side, which is nowhere closer to the side which lifted the World Cup last year.

Australia:

The last ODI which India played against Australia was a very important fixture; it was the fight for a place in the final of the World Cup. Australia ended India’s hopes of defending the title and emerged victorious. Australia would like to continue their domination over India in limited overs cricket. On paper, the Australian unit looks stronger than India. Batting-wise, they have nothing to worry as the explosive duo of David Warner and Aaron Finch would open and the rest of batting line-up is also full of consistent limited-overs performers. Finch is in stupendous form and has 246 runs from 5 matches at an average of 49.2 currently for the Renegades in the BBL.

All-rounder Glenn Maxwell, apart from his devastating batting, will provide the team with part time spin option while Mitchell Marsh will take up the fast bowling all-rounder’s slot. James Faulkner, with his hard-hitting abilities, is most likely to be given the finishers role. The bowling attack looks depleted with the injured Mitchell Starc. In his absence, Josh Hazlewood will lead the bowling attack. Australia confirmed their XI on the eve of the match, and the bowling department has been injected with fresh blood as fast bowlers Paris and Boland have been named in the playing XI and are set to make their ODI debuts.

India:

2015 was not a great year for India in ODI. Losses to Bangladesh in the bilateral series and South Africa at home might be still tinkering in their minds. However, the young team led by MS Dhoni would definitely aim to start afresh by winning the first competition of 2016. The tour started off on a positive note for India with victories over Western Australia XI in both of their practice games. But, they also suffered a huge setback as Mohammad Shami, who was out of action since the World Cup semis was again ruled out yet again due to a hamstring injury. Shami was about to make a comeback into the team after a hiatus of 9 months but will have to wait for further 4-6 weeks before being considered.

India has three new faces that have joined them- Barinder Sran, Gurkeerat Mann, and Rishi Dhawan. The batting line-up won’t see any drastic change as the top five will remain intact and only one out of Gurkeerat and Manish Pandey who would make a cut into the playing XI. Dhoni is most likely to go with the team’s strength and can play two spinners along with three pacers. Left-arm fast bowler, Barinder Sran looked impressive in the practice games and is likely to make his debut tomorrow.

Probable XIs:

India:

Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (C & wk), Manish Pandey, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Barinder Sran, Ishant Sharma

Australia:

David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steven Smith (C), George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade (wicketkeeper), James Faulkner, Scott Boland, Josh Hazlewood, Joel Paris

Pitch and conditions:

The WACA pitch is expected to offer its traditional pace and bounce. The conditions would be cloudy and there are low chances of scattered showers. The top temperature for the day would be 26°C.

Statistics

• Since the end of 2008, India have won only one of the six completed ODIs they have played against Australia in Australia.
• India must win at least one of the five ODIs in this series to retain the second spot on the ICC one-day international rankings.
• India boast of three men currently in the top 10 ODI batting rankings – Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, and MS Dhoni – while only one Australian Glenn Maxwell features in the list.
• The last time Australia had two debutants in the same ODI was at the Adelaide Oval in January 2013, when Kane Richardson and Ben Cutting both debuted against Sri Lanka.
• India and Australia have not played a single bilateral ODI series in Australia. All the ODIs played by India in Australia have been part of series or tournaments of three or more teams only.
• Virat Kohli requires 169 runs to complete 7000 ODI runs. If he gets there in this five-match series, he will become the quickest to the landmark beating AB de Villiers who did it in 166 innings. Kohli has 6831 runs in 158 innings.
• 14 consecutive ODIs without defeat for Australia at home since November 2014. Their last defeat was to the hands of South Africa at the WACA on November 16, 2014.

What do the statistics say about India’s tour of Australia? – From a statisticians Eye India’s limited overs tour to Australia