Third ODI: Australia win toss, put India to field; Kuldeep, Prasidh return in dead rubber fixture

SYDNEY: Australia captain Mitchell Marsh won the toss and opted to bat against India in the final ODI of the three-match series at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.

The third ODI is a dead rubber after Australia took an unassailable 2-0 lead with a narrow two-wicket win in Adelaide. India’s star-studded top order has yet to live up to its reputation. Captain Shubman Gill hasn’t found his mojo, Virat Kohli is yet to open his account, and Rohit Sharma hammered 73, but Josh Hazlewood has haunted him across both fixtures.

Apart from the struggling top three, the team combination has been a topic of discussion among fans and former cricketers. The exclusion of Kuldeep Yadav and the selection of a couple of players haven’t gone well with many. While India has had their fair share of troubles, Australia has ticked all the boxes and will look to complete a whitewash over India in a bilateral ODI series.

India has tweaked its combination with Kuldeep Yadav and Prasidh Krishna returning to the final XI in place of Arshdeep Singh and Nitish Kumar Reddy. On the other hand, Australia has made one change with Nathan Ellis returning to the team in place of Xavier Bartlett.

After winning the toss, Australia skipper Mitchell Marsh explained the factor behind his decision and said, “We are gonna bat first. Seems like a really nice wicket. It’s going to be a beautiful day here at the SCG. The way the young guys stoop up towards the back end is a great sign for our team.

Today’s a great opportunity to go 3-0 up in the series. Cooper is a calm character, and he played terrifically in the last game. Nathan Ellis is back in for Xavier Bartlett.”

India captain Shubman Gill was pleased with how the toss panned out and said, “We would have bowled first. We got what we wanted. We had just enough runs on the board. You’ve got to take your chances. In the end, they played well. Two changes. Kuldeep and Prasidh come in for Arshdeep and Reddy.”

Australia (Playing XI): Mitchell Marsh(c), Travis Head, Matthew Short, Matt Renshaw, Alex Carey(w), Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Nathan Ellis, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna. (ANI)