CHENNAI: There is no time for Australia and India to take it easy as the former champions will open their ICC Men’s World Cup campaign in an electrifying clash here at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.
On Sunday for once the Chepauk crowd will not be cheering for the Men in Yellow as Rohit and Co will step out at the storied MA Chidambaram Stadium for their tournament opener.
The atmosphere will be electric with anticipation, but there will also be a hint of nervousness as India will play their opening match of the ICC World Cup at home as favourites.
India appears to be better prepared in that area than Australia for the upcoming game at Chepauk, where spin is predicted to have a significant impact on results.
The World Cup royalty Australia will have an obvious advantage in the head-to-head, having won 83 games to 56 losses. However, the home favourites India will be high on confidence as they recently defeated Australia in a three-match ODI series 2-1 at home.
The players on the opposing teams and the environment are both familiar to the two sides. The two teams squared off in Chennai in March of this year, and Australia prevailed in a close game.
Because of the characteristics of the wicket, spinners from both teams are anticipated to make significant impacts. Australia will rely on Adam Zampa’s leg-spinners with some assistance from Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith while India has Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ravichandran Ashwin in their spin department.
Australia is waiting for all-rounder Marcus Stoinis while India is watching Shubman Gill’s health.
India’s success at home will largely depend on the sharp beginnings their new-ball bowlers deliver. Despite the injury that forced him to miss nearly a year of play, Bumrah is back to lead India’s pace assault.
Labuschagne took Ashton Agar’s spot in Australia prior to their Cricket World Cup campaign. As a result, Zampa will serve as the team’s lone lead spinner.
Zampa, a natural wicket-taker, allows more than 5.5 runs per over but has a 31.5 strike rate in the format. Against India, the leg-spinner has 34 ODI wickets.
The Indian skipper Rohit Sharma hinted that Men in Blue might consider playing with three spinners in Chennai, stating that it was “definitely an option” given the conditions.
“I don’t really consider Hardik Pandya as just a seamer. He’s a proper fast bowler, who can crank up good speed,” Rohit said during a pre-match press conference.
“So that gives us an advantage. That gives us that luxury of playing three spinners and three seamers as well you know so there’s a possibility that we can play three spinners on this pitch with three seamers as well, so it gives us that balance gives us that number eight batting option as well. We have to come here again tomorrow afternoon and see what the pitch looks like but yeah, three spinners is definitely an option,” he added.
Meanwhile, Australia captain Pat Cummins said his team was confident about playing against the hosts, adding that his team knows the conditions well.
“We have played more white ball cricket in India than Australia in the last 10 years. We know the condition very well. The positive thing is that we have played some really good cricket against India in the last few years……We cannot take credit for the World Cup win of the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s,” Cummins said during a pre-match press conference.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Sean Abbott, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa and Mitchell Starc. (ANI)