IND v AUS 2017, 1st ODI, Preview: Run fest on the cards as fantastic foes meet in Chennai

After crucifying their opponents in Sri Lanka in all the departments, Team India now faces Australia at home as both teams clash in Chennai. The first ODI is expected to be a high scoring as the warm-up match saw the visitors rack up 347 in their 50 overs. While India would like to continue their dream run, Aussies would love to get the monkey off their back by upsetting the hosts in the very first game.

The 5-match ODI series is expected to be closely fought and tempers might flare between the players of both the teams. Already a lot of mind games have been played ahead of the first game on Sunday but all comes to rest when the teams start their battle on the field. Men in Blue have been jolted by the absence of Shikhar Dhawan as he opted out of first three ODIs of the series to attend his unwell wife.

On the other hand, Australia too is sweating on the calf injury of their limited overs opener Aaron Finch. Peter Handscomb, the cover for him has already flown in all the way from Australia on Saturday and is available for selection. He might well find himself in the eleven given his performance in the Bangladesh tour.

Toss: India won the toss and elected to bat first

Captains quotes

Virat Kohli – We will bat first. Looks like a good wicket to bat, last time we played here, it slowed down a lot. Our spinners should get some turn. Rahane will bat at the top of the order, Manish Pandey will bat at four, Hardik Pandya at seven, we are playing two wrist spinners and two pacers.

Steve Smith – I wasn’t sure about the toss thing, looks like a good wicket, will need to bowl well. The four guys missing out are Agar, Finch, Handscomb, and Richardson. Cartwright will make his ODI debut. Faulkner is back and so is Coulter-Nile. India is a tough challenge and looking forward to a good game.

Playing XI

Australia: David Warner, Hilton Cartwright, Steven Smith(c), Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade(w), James Faulkner, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa

India: Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli(c), Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni(w), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah

Focus will be on-

Kuldeep Yadav

Amidst all the excitement, the focus will be on Kuldeep Yadav as he troubled the Aussie batsmen in his debut game in the fourth Test of the series in Dharamsala earlier this year. Australia too has prepared for his chinaman bowling by facing the bowling of KK Jiyas of Kerala. Steve Smith, the Aussie skipper has already heaped praises on Kuldeep and the onus will be on the chinaman bowler now to deliver. Australia would be the toughest opponent for him in the limited overs so far as he played his previous ODI against Sri Lanka and Windies. Kuldeep Yadav would love to repeat the performance of the Test series and spin a web around the Aussie batsman.

David Warner

David Warner is in scintillating form and racked up a couple of centuries in the recently concluded Test series against Bangladesh. It would be interesting to see if he can replicate that form in the limited overs format. He was not the part of the touring squad in 2013 and so he will be playing the One Day format in India after a long gap. He would love to leave the lasting impression by dominating the opposition bowlers with his attacking prowess in Chennai. Australia’s fortunes also depend on how Warner plays as the line-up is largely dependent on him and Smith.

Playing Combinations

India

Ajinkya Rahane is all set to open alongside Rohit Sharma in the absence of Shikhar Dhawan unless the team management opts for KL Rahul ahead of him. Manish Pandey will finally play the first match of a meaningful series after proving his worth in Sri Lanka at the fag end of the tour. Hardik Pandya is expected to fill in the all-rounder spot as Kedar Jadhav will bowl his part-time off-spin if needed.

Axar Patel suffered a left ankle sprain while playing football during the warm-up session ahead of the match and has been replaced by Ravindra Jadeja. He is expected to slot into the playing eleven as his left arm spin could play a key role. Bhuvneshwar Kumar might find himself warming the bench after picking a 5-wicket haul in the previous game as Mohammed Shami will return in place of him.

Australia

Hilton Cartwright is expected to fill up the opening slot as Aaron Finch has been ruled out of the first match of the series. He will be making his ODI debut in this game and will want to break the poor run in the subcontinent, as he failed in both the innings of the Chittagong Test and bagged a duck in the warmup game in India. Peter Handscomb, who reached India only on Saturday, will not find a place in the playing eleven as Head will take the No. 4 position.

Steve Smith has already hinted Adam Zampa as the trump card of the series so he is a certainty and Marcus Stoinis might be preferred for a spot as well given his all-round abilities. Glenn Maxwell’s part-time off-spin will keep Ashton Agar on the bench as the former is an attacking batsman as well.

StatAttack

9- Mohammed Shami needs 9 wickets in 3 ODIs to become the fastest bowler to pick 100 ODI wickets.

988- James Faulkner has scored 988 runs in ODIs so far. He needs 12 more runs to complete 1000 ODI runs.

1977- Glenn Maxwell needs only 23 runs to score 2000 runs in ODIs.