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David Warner and Pat Cummins’ absence will give India a ray of hope as they take on Australia in the third and last ODI of the series at the Manuka Oval on Wednesday (December 2). The Aussies have never lost an international game at the venue in six attempts, including four ODIs and will be the favourites to make a whitewash 3-0.
Shardul Thakur could get a game at the expense of Navdeep Saini as India experiment with fast bowling options in Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s absence. Mohammed Shami might also be rested considering the workload coming up with T Natarajan slotting into the playing XI. Even leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal could be benched to give Kuldeep Yadav a run in the side.
Australia, on the other hand, will have to make two forced changes with Warner injured and Cummins rested for the remaining limited-overs leg. Marnus Labuschagne has put his hand up to open the batting in Warner’s absence, but the Aaron Finch-led side would likely go with Matthew Wade who has donned the role before. Sean Abbott could replace Cummins in the bowling department.
Predicted XI of both the teams for third ODI:
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Matthew Wade, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschange, Moises Henriques, Alex Carey (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Sean Abbott, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Navdeep Saini/Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami/T Natarajan, Yuzvendra Chahal/Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
Head-to-Head record
Matches played: 147 | Australia won: 80 | India won: 52 | No result: 15
Form guide
(last five completed matches, most recent first)
- Australia: WWWLW
- India: LLLLL
Pitch Report
The pitch on offer at the Manuka Oval has been good to the batsmen in the last few matches. In Wednesday’s game, there will be some assistance offered to both seamers and the spinners. However, it won’t be easy for the bowlers if they don’t get early wickets.
