As India and Australia gear up to renew their rivalry in the One-Day Internationals, there are few players in both the teams who will be desperate to make their mark in the five-match series, scheduled to start from September 17 in Chennai.
While for some it is a comeback series, some will be keen to make amends for their poor show in the Border-Gavaskar series earlier this year and some will look to silence their critics.
So here we are looking at 5 players to look out for in the upcoming series:
5. James Faulkner:
A standout performer for Australia when the reigning world champions last toured in India in 2013, Faulkner endured a torrid time this year, losing his central and getting surprisingly omitted from the team for the Champions Trophy which was his first omission from an Australia squad for an ICC event since 2012.
However, the all-rounder, who was the Man of the Match in the final of 2015 World Cup, has now got the much-needed lifeline. He will be keen to prove his worth by replicating the performances he gave during the 2013 series when he scored 230 runs at an average of 115 and was the joint highest wicket-taker for Australia with seven wickets.
4. David Warner:
David Warner will be desperate to make amends for his horror show in this year’s Test series. One of the senior-most players in the Australian team, Warner looked completely out of sorts on Indian pitches as he managed just 193 runs in 8 innings. But the hard-hitting opener will be looking to do well in the 50-over format where the ball will not spin much and the pitches will be more or less ideal flat.
3. KL Rahul:
After impressing with his performances in the Test arena, Rahul was given a chance to cement his place in the ODI team. He was given the opportunity to bat at number 4 in the recently-concluded series against Sri Lanka. However, the Karnataka star failed miserably, scoring just 28 runs in 3 innings.
But with Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina not included in the team for the upcoming series, he is likely to get chance at number 4 again and he will be keen to make it count.
2. Mahendra Singh Dhoni:
After silencing his critics with his performance against Sri Lanka, where he scored 162 runs in 4 innings, Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be eyeing to do well again. His performance in Sri Lanka came against an inexperienced and depleted bowling attack and a good outing against the Aussies will truly impress Dhoni’s critics.
1. Virat Kohli
After the disastrous batting performance in the Test series earlier this year, Virat Kohli will be desperate to do well in the upcoming ODIs. The India skipper had entered the Border-Gavaskar series on the back of four consecutive Test double centuries but endured a terrible time against the team from Down Under, managing just 46 runs at an average of 9.20.
The India captain is currently in sizzling form, having recently scored two centuries and a fifty in the five-match series against Sri Lanka and will be desperate to do well against Australia.