Team India and Australia will renew their celebrated rivalry when the reigning world champions arrive in the Indian subcontinent for the five-match One-Day International and three-match T20 International series later this month. One of the most fierce rivalries in modern day cricket will take place in the backdrop of a tightly-fought Test series earlier this year.
Led by Steve Smith’s astonishing batting performance, the visitors gave the hosts a run for money before losing the four-match series 2-1. However, along with the world-class cricket, there was no dearth of controversies throughout the series with captains of both the teams at the centre of the storm. Virat Kohli had accused Smith of ‘cheating’ after the touring captain was caught red-handed seeking dressing room inputs for a DRS call.
India’s last limited-overs series at home against Australia came in 2013, and they were stretched by the George Bailey-led side till the last match when a majestic 209-run knock from Rohit Sharma settled the series in India’s favour. Following 4-0 drubbing in Tests, many considered that the Aussies had no chance versus the then World Cup and Champions Trophy holders but the team from Down Under exceeded all the expectations before losing the seven-match ODI series 3-2.
A couple of years later, they won the World Cup for a record fifth time in 2015 and answered back to the Men in Blue by winning the bilateral ODI series at home by 4-1 last year. Both the teams have come a long way since then and considering the current form there is no denying that the team from Down Under embark on another tour to India looking down the barrel.
Barring the heroic performance against India, earlier this year, Australia’s recent form on the subcontinent as well as their performance in the 50-over format this year has not been impressive. In the last few years, they lost to Pakistan in UAE before being whitewashed by Sri Lanka 3-0 in 2016. Talking about their form in ODIs this year, Steve Smith & Co began the year with an impressive 4-1 win over Pakistan at home before losing the Chappell-Hadlee series 2-0 away.
A dismal outing further compounded Their miseries in the ICC Champions Trophy where they exited the tournament at the group stage without a win although weather played a part in their earlier-than-expected ouster.
India’s form, on the other hand, has been outstanding, to say the least. The team is looking unstoppable under the inspiring leadership of Virat Kohli. The 28-year old, who has led the team to eight consecutive series wins in Tests, took the captaincy earlier this year and has hit the ground running. In his first assignment, he led the Men in Blue to ODI and T20I series win over England before guiding them to the final of the Champions Trophy. Then a 4-1 win followed in the 50-over format against Windies and recently-concluded historic 5-0 whitewash in Sri Lanka.
Moreover, India are a juggernaut at home, and the team is in red-hot form with the bench strength stronger than ever, Steve Smith & Co. will have to play out of their skin to inflict a first ODI series defeat on India under Kohli.
Barring the loss in the final of the Champions Trophy, the Kohli-led side has not looked like losing even a single game and the Men in Blue will enter the series against the reigning World Champions as the firm favourites.
But considering the past, one can say that the Aussies will be a force to reckon with in the limited-overs format. Moreover, they will be disappointed after ending on the losing side in the Test series earlier this year despite playing well and will be keen to make amends for that. With the likes of David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell, the visitors have the required firepower to spring a surprise or two.
Meanwhile, while both the the teams will be desperate to come out on top in the high-voltage clash, a few duels can also be witnessed most prominent of which will be the one between Virat Kohli and Steve Smith.
The race between Smith and Kohli have always has always formed an important part of this bilateral series in recent times and there is absolutely no denying that it will be a special attraction once again. Smith had left behind Kohli by a big margin in the Test series earlier this year when he finished the series as the top-scorer while Kohli looked out of sorts throughout the series.
Kohli will be desperate to make amends for the horror show in the Test series and his current form will be of big help. The Indian batting star is in red-hot form, finishing the five-match ODI series in Sri Lanka as the highest run-scorer with a tally of 330 runs which included two centuries and a fifty.
Another player who will be keen to make a mark in the series is Australia opener David Warner. The hard-hitting left-handed batsman, who did not have a good track record in Tests in Asia, had a forgettable Test series but his form changed withing weeks when he donned the coloured jersey in the Indian Premier League. Moreover, he recently hit two centuries in the Test series against Bangladesh and will be looking to do well in India this time.
The series will also be a chance for some other players to make a mark with allrounder James Faulkner and India batsman KL Rahul being two of them. While Faulkner will be looking to prove his worth after he was surprisingly left out of Australia’s squad for the Champions Trophy despite being one of their top limited-overs players in the last couple of years, Rahul needs to bounce back after his indifferent performance in ODIs in Sri Lanka. Rahul was asked to bat at number 4 but he totally failed to make the chances count but known conditions might help him to settle down at the new batting position.
Now that everyone is desperate to watch the much-awaited series, here are all the details you need to know about the upcoming ODI and T20I series:
History:
Last five ODI series between India and Australia:
2015/16: India in Australia
Matches: 5 Winner: Australia (4-1)
2013/14: Australia in India
Matches: 7 Winner: India (3-2)
2010/11: Australia in India
Matches: 3 Winner: India (1-0)
2009/10: Australia in India
Matches: 7 Winner: Australia (4-2)
2007/08: Australia in India
Matches: 7 Winner: Australia (4-2)
Last five ODI meetings:
January 23, 2016: India beat Australia by six wickets
January 20, 2016: Australia beat India by 25 runs
January 17, 2016: Australia beat India by three wickets
January 15, 2016: Australia beat India by seven wickets
January 12, 2016: Australia beat India by five wickets
Last three T20I series:
2015/16: India in Australia
Matches: 3 Winner: India (3-0)
2013/14: Australia in India
Match: 1 Winner: India
2011/12: India in Australia
Matches: 2 Winner: Series ended 1-1
Last three T20I meetings:
March 27, 2016: India beat Australia by 6 wickets (World T20)
January 31, 2016: India beat Australia by 7 wickets
January 29, 2116: India beat Australia by 27 runs
Schedule for the ODI series along with venue and timing:
India vs Australia, 1st ODI
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
September 17, Sunday 1:30 PM IST
India vs Australia, 2nd ODI
M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
September 21, Thursday 1:30 PM IST
India vs Australia, 3rd ODI
Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur
September 24, Sunday 1:30 PM IST
India vs Australia, 4th ODI
Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore
September 28, Thursday 1:30 PM IST
India vs Australia, 5th ODI
Eden Gardens, Kolkata
October 01, Sun 1:30 PM IST
Schedule for the T20I series:
India vs Australia, 1st T20
Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad
October 07, Saturday 7:00 PM IST
India vs Australia, 2nd T20
JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi
October 10, Tuesday 7:00 PM IST
India vs Australia, 3rd T20
Nehru Stadium, Guwahati
October 13, Friday 7:00 PM IST
Where can you watch the games:
Star Sports 1, Star Sports HD1, Star Sports HD3 and Star Sports 3 will broadcast three T20Is, and five ODIs. Indian fans can also enjoy the games on Hotstar.
The viewers in the UK can watch entire series on Sky Sports 2 while those in USA and Canada can catch the teams in action on Willow TV. In South Africa, the matches will be broadcasted on SuperSport.
Where can you get the tickets from:
The tickets will be sold by all the state associations while one can also buy them online from Book My Show.
Captains:
India: Virat Kohli
Australia: Steve Smith
Squads:
India ODI squad:
Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, 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 ODI squad:
Steve Smith (C), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Kane Richardson, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa
Australia T20 squad:
Steve Smith (C), David Warner, Jason Behrendorff, Dan Christian, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa
Meanwhile, before the main series, the visitors will take on Board President’s XI in a warm-up game on September 12.
Board President XI squad:
Rahul Tripathi, Mayank Agarwal, Shivam Chaudhary, Nitish Rana, Govind Poddar, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Sreevats Goswami, Akshay Karnewar, Kulwan Kheroliya, Krushang Patel, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Washington Sundar, Rahil Shah