3 player battles to watch out for in India vs Australia match of 2023 World Cup

India begin their quest for a third World Cup title with a blockbuster encounter against Australia in Chennai on Sunday, October 8. The two teams faced off recently and the Men in Blue emerged victorious 2-1 from the ODI series.

However, facing Australia in a World Cup is a completely different ball game as they will come with full strength and take their game to the next level. India will need to be on their A-game, especially with the potential absence of Shubman Gill, who is reportedly down with dengue fever.

Both nations have a star-studded World Cup squad with a number of high-profile match-ups that could decide the outcome of this potentially riveting encounter. On that note, let's take a look at three such match-ups:

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#3 Glenn Maxwell vs Kuldeep Yadav

With Travis Head still recovering from a broken hand, Mitchell Marsh will open the batting for Australia. This makes the presence of Glenn Maxwell even more crucial in thd lower middle order as he can be explosive from ball one and change the course of the game.

India will need to have their plans right against Maxwell as he is coming off a fantastic half-century in the warm-up game against Pakistan. Kuldeep Yadav has been a bit expensive against Maxwell in ODIs, conceding 96 runs in the 63 balls that he has bowled to him.

However, Maxwell has also been dismissed twice and hasn't faced much of Kuldeep 2.0 who has worked a lot on his pace and variations. This makes it an intriguing encounter with arguably both players fancying their chances.

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#2 Rohit Sharma vs Pat Cummins

India need captain Rohit Sharma to step up and score big especially if Shubman Gill misses out on playing the first game. He hasn't quite played a long knock of late in ODIs and the fans would be hoping for a repeat of the 2019 World Cup from him where he smashed five hundreds.

He will potentially face the new-ball threat from opposition skipper Pat Cummins, who has decent numbers against the opener in ODIs. In 229 balls off Cummins, Rohit has scored 176 runs and has been dismissed twice. This is another match-up that doesn't have a clear favorite from the get-go.

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#1 Virat Kohli vs Mitchell Starc

Just like Rohit, India also need Virat Kohli back to his belligerent best against Australia. Arguably the best ODI batter of the modern era, Kohli probably feels the most comfortable in this format and knows exactly how to pace his innings and put his team in a strong position.

While Kohli has scored 121 runs off 119 balls off Mitchell Starc in ODIs, the latter dismissed him for the first time in the format when the two teams met in Mumbai earlier this year. Starc in the ODI World Cups becomes a completely different bowler and that's a challenge Kohli will need to counter, especially if he walks in early.