Australia vs India 2018-19, ODI series: Preview

After a historical victory over the Aussies in the Boxing Day Test, India lead the series 2-1 in their favour and are likely to win the Test series given the way they have played in the fourth Test. India will be hoping to win the One-day series as well and end the tour on a good note. On the other hand, Australia after being humiliated in the Tests will try hard to save their pride in the ODIs. Here's the preview for the upcoming ODI series between Australia and India.

India Team News

Indian team is enjoying its dominance throughout the world and are prime contenders to win the 2019 World Cup. Virat and company will be looking ahead of defeating the inexperienced and not so strong Australian team.

India are five points behind England in the ICC ODI rankings and even if they win the series 3-0 they will not make it to the first spot due to a deficit of one extra point.

Umesh Yadav, Rishabh Pant and Manish Pandey have been dropped, the three were in the Indian squad for series against Windies. Hardik Pandya will be making his return post-injury.

Karthik has been drafted into the squad as back-up for Dhoni. However, it is still a mystery that Rahul is in the team ahead of the likes of in-form Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey.

India will have somewhat similar playing eleven which played in the last ODI against Windies. India are most likely to play with two all-rounders in Hardik and Jadeja alongside Kuldeep, Bumrah and Bhuvi with Kedar Jadhav being the sixth bowler.

Indian Squad

Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (WK), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Khaleel Ahmed.

Australia Team News

Australian Cricket is going through a tough time in their entire cricket history which is contrary to their attitude and past glories. Australia is currently ranked sixth in the ICC ODI rankings if they win the series 3-0 they will go past Pakistan to the fifth spot.

Cricket Australia has rested the three frontline pacers Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazelwood for this series to give them sufficient rest before the future assignments.

Chris Lynn, Travis Head, Ashton Agar, Ben McDermott and D'Arcy Short have been dropped from the One-Day squad. Both Lynn and Short have been in good form in the ongoing Big Bash League but the selectors overlooked them.

Matthew Wade has been in tremendous form in 2018-19 Big Bash League (BBL) and in JLT One-day Cup for Hobart Hurricanes and Victoria Bushrangers respectively but has not been chosen to play in this series. Exclusion of Travis Head from the squad is shocking because he has been one of the most consistent players for Australia in ODIs.

Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh and Peter Siddle will be making a comeback while Behrendorff and Richardson have been awarded for their good performances the white ball. Aaron Finch will be leading the side, while two keeping options are available in Alex Carey and Peter Handscomb.

Australian Squad

Aaron Finch (C), Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (WK), Mitchell Marsh, Peter Siddle, Billy Stanlake, Jhye Richardson, Jason Behrendorff and Adam Zampa.

Predictions: India will take the series home with three outright wins if the weather conditions don't affect the play. Virat Kohli will be the 'Player of the Series'.

Schedule:

First ODI: 12th January 2019, 7:50 AM IST, Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), Sydney.

Second ODI: 15th January 2019, 8:50 AM IST, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide.

Third ODI: 18th January 2019, 7:50 AM IST, Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Melbourne.

Live Telecast:

SONY SIX (ENGLISH), SONY TEN 3 (HINDI) & SONY LIV (Online Streaming)