IND vs AUS 2023: 3 player battles to watch out for in first two ODIs

India's final assignment before the all-important ODI World Cup will be a three-match ODI series against Australia, beginning with the first game to be played at the PCA Stadium in Mohali on Friday, September 22. The second game will be played at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Sunday, September 24.

The Men in Blue had an impressive run in the Asia Cup, where they won the tournament by annihilating Sri Lanka in the final. They will be keen to fine-tune some of the other areas in their XI and the selection seems to have been done accordingly with some big names resting for the first two ODIs.

Australia, on the other hand, didn't get the result they wanted from the five-match ODI series against South Africa. Despite having a 2-0 lead, they lost the remaining three games and lost the series. Nevertheless, they will be buoyed to have some of their senior players back from injuries for the series against India so that they can field almost a full-strength XI before the World Cup.

On that note, let's take a look at three player battles that could be crucial in the first two games:

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#3 David Warner vs Ravichandran Ashwin

Quite a few questions were raised on David Warner's ODI spot and whether he needed to be dropped down to the middle order. However, the veteran opener showed against South Africa what he is capable of when on song and will be high on confidence.

On the other end is another veteran cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin, whose selections has raised quite a few eyebrows. He has been recalled to the Indian ODI squad for the first time since January 2022 and will have a point to prove to many who are criticizing his selection.

Ashwin has dismissed Warner a staggering 11 times in Tests and two times in T20Is. However, Warner is yet to be dismissed by the off-spinner in ODIs, having scored 15 runs in the 19 balls that he faced. Ashwin will know that he would need to produce something special to be in the reckoning for the World Cup squad.

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#2 Suryakumar Yadav vs Adam Zampa

Head coach Rahul Dravid threw his weight behind Suryakumar Yadav when asked in the press conference about the latter's ODI future. But the No.1 ranked T20I batter hasn't really made a massive impact in ODIs and will be desperate to score big against Australia in the first two games.

SKY is likely to walk out to bat at No.6 again as that is the role that the Indian team management wants to give him. He has been found wanting against the ball turning away from him in ODIs and that's where his battle against Adam Zampa will be a key one.

In T20Is, Suryakumar has smashed 45 runs off 22 balls from Zampa and has been dismissed once. However, ODIs have been a completely different ball game for SKY and it seems like he is in a make-or-break situation.

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#1 Shreyas Iyer vs Pat Cummins

Just like Suryakumar Yadav, even Shreyas Iyer needs runs under his belt going into the series against Australia. While Iyer would arguably walk into the XI when fit, the fitness part has been a huge concern for the 28-year-old.

He suffered a back spasm before the Asia Cup Super Fours game against Pakistan and couldn't feature in the XI for the rest of the tournament. This makes it paramount for India to give Iyer possibly all three games and will hope that he gets back among the runs.

Australian skipper Pat Cummins is also coming back from an injury and has been vocal about wanting to play in all three games. He can test Iyer with the short-ball ploy as well and the latter is unlikely to back off as he will take his chances too. This makes this match-up arguably the most intriguing for the first two games.