In the first game of the five-match ODI series against Australia, Virat Kohli won the toss and took no-brainer decision to bat first on a dry pitch of Chennai. The unavailability of Shikhar Dhawan opened the doors for Ajinkya Rahane as he will be opening the innings along with Rohit Sharma. Manish Pandey will bat at number 4, the skipper confirmed at the time of toss.
Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav were the two spinners in the India lineup, which meant that there was no place for Ravindra Jadeja, who had been called in the team a day ahead of the game to replace injured Axar Patel.
Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jadeja and KL Rahul were four players to be benched.
In the other camp, there were few changes as well. Hilton Cartwright, who made his Test debut against Pakistan, was handed his first ODI cap. James Faulkner made his comeback in Australia playing XI.
Adm Zampa was preferred of Ashton Agar for a place in playing as a spinner.
Here is the playing XI of both the teams –
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli(c), Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni(w), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah
Australia Playing XI: 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
Captains talk –
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.
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.