The Australian team would be looking to avenge their loss in the Test series against the Indians. The Aaron Finch led side welcomes Nathan Lyon and Peter Siddle into the squad after their impressive performances in the Test series and the Big Bash League respectively. Chris Lynn has been dropped from the side following his failure in previous games.
The Indians, on the other hand, will be looking to dominate the Aussies as they did in the Test series. India's lead bowler, Jasprit Bumrah had been rested by the management for the ODI series against the Aussies and the T20 internationals against the Kiwis. Mohammad Siraj has been drafted in place of Bumrah for the ODI series against the Aussies.
The 5 players who will be looking to make a comeback in the ODI series are as follows:
#1 MS Dhoni
Being one of the most popular players in India comes with a lot of scrutiny and pressure from the Indian fans. MS Dhoni who changed the course of Indian cricket after taking over from Sourav Ganguly has been facing the heat from the Indian fans. Dhoni was recently dropped from the T20 side for the series against the Aussies.
Dhoni has been going through a rough phase with back to back failures in the Asia Cup and the ODI series against the Windies. In the Asia Cup, Dhoni scored 77 runs in 6 games averaging 19.25 with a strike rate of 62.09. Following that he scored 50 runs in 5 games at an average of 16.66 against the Windies.
The Indian skipper was heavily criticized after he chose not to feature for his domestic side Jharkhand in the domestic tournaments.
It is only a matter of an innings for the former Indian skipper to get back to his old ways. The Indian skipper can't be undermined and the Aussies will be wary of the danger the Indian World Cup winning captain possesses.
#2 Bhuvneshwar Kumar
All eyes will be on Bhuvneshwar Kumar after Jasprit Bumrah was rested by the selectors for the ODI series. Bhuvi didn't play a single game in the Test series against the Aussies with the team sticking to the pace bowling trio of Bumrah, Shami and Ishant Sharma.
The ability of Kumar to swing the ball both ways is something that makes him even more dangerous. He will be playing a crucial role in the side along with Shami as India will look to win the ODI series as well.
Bhuvenshwar was earlier on rested for the first 2 ODIs against the Windies after which he was called back due to the Windies run scoring in the 2nd ODI. He didn't have a good ODI series according to his standards as he was only able to pick 3 wickets in the 3 games at an average of 37 with an economy rate of 5.84.
His performance in the second game of the T20 series was really impressive as he picked up 2 wickets in his 4 over spell going for just 12 runs. Whereas in the final T20 he was very expensive as he went for 39 runs in 4 overs.
Bhuvneshwar was selected for the T20 series against the Aussies where he went wicketless in the first and third game. In the second game, he picked up figures of 2 for 20 in his 3 over spell.
The Indian hopes will heavily be lying on Bhuvneshwar who too will be looking to put up an impressive performance.
#3 Peter Siddle
The responsibility of the Australian bowling attack will be on the shoulders of the comeback man, Peter Siddle. The selectors had decided to rest the pace bowling trio of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc for the ODI series against India. Siddle will be leading the bowling attack with Stanlake, Behrendorff, and Richardson.
Siddle who last played an ODI in Australian colors in 2010 will also become the Australian player with the longest gap between 2 ODIs. Siddle has had an impressive Big Bash League so far for the Adelaide Strikers with figures of 1 for 8 in the first game, 3 for 20 in second and wicketless in the last game conceding under 6 an over in his 3 over spell.
He even won the Man of the Match award for his performance in the game against the Sydney Thunder where he picked up 3 wickets for 20 runs.
The Australian warhorse will be looking to make a comeback and stamp his authority for a place in the side for the World Cup.
#4 Nathan Lyon
Nathan Lyon had a great 2018 as he emerged as the third highest wicket-taker in Test cricket with 49 wickets in 10 games. Lyon was the chief destructor for the Aussies and also the joint leading wicket-taker in the Test Series against India where he picked up 21 wickets in 4 games.
He bowled the most overs bowled by any bowler in the Test series, he bowled 242.1 overs as the Indians made him toil to pick up wickets.
Prior to the Test series, he was rested for the T20s against India as the selectors wanted him to go back and play in the domestic tournament so as to get warmed up for the series against the Indians. Lyon's last ODI was against England in Manchester on the 24th of June, 2018.
Lyon will be looking to continue from where he left off in the Test series against the Indians so as to book his place in the side for the World Cup later on.
#5 Aaron Finch
The ODI series against India would play a major role in deciding whether Aaron Finch will feature in Australia's plans for the World Cup. Finch had a dismal show in the test series against India where he only managed to score 97 runs in 6 innings. Finch was dropped from the side for the final test after his failure with the bat.
Finch returned to play for the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League. He top scored with 42 runs off 39 balls as his side successfully chased down the total of 146 with 6 wickets in hand.
Prior to the series against India, Finch failed to perform in the ODI series against South Africa where he scored 57 runs in 3 games. The Aussies lost the one-off T20 series to the South Africans where Finch again misfired scoring 7 runs.
In the T20 series against India, he got starts in the first and third T20 with scores of 27 and 28 respectively. He got out for a duck in the second T20.
Finch will be looking to fire against the Indians and lead the Aussies to victory.
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