Shastri suggests Rohit to play the aggressor at No 6
Rohit Sharma’s decision to bat in the middle order in the Adelaide and Brisbane Tests, has failed to yield the desired results for the Indian team in the Border-Gavaskar series so far.
After a string of good performances in Tests for Australia, Marnus Labuschagne makes his debut in the white-ball format.
Australia skipper Aaron Finch on Tuesday won the toss and decided to bowl first against India in the first ODI of the three-match series at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
” We are gonna bowl first. Looks like a reasonably good wicket. Hopefully, there will be some dew later. That’s the part of our decision, said Finch, adding, “The feeling is very good. We haven’t played ODIs since our World Cup semifinals. Lot of guys have been playing Tests and BBL. So, they are pretty confident coming into this format. Having all the quicks available is not something we have had for some time. We are going with two spinners.”
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Meanwhile, Virat Kohli, said: ” We would have bowled first as well. Dew in the second innings could be a factor. But again it is a good challenge for us. We are looking to do things that are not in out comfort zone. We are pretty much ready for something that might not happen for us at the toss.
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“Bombay (Mumbai) is a great wicket to play cricket. If you do your skills well in the first or second half, you get results. We are pretty happy with the toss. At home, I don’t think any other team has else challenged so much. They (Australia) won last time. Quality sides will challenge you everywhere. We are very excited.”
Here are the Playing XIs of both the teams:
Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch (captain), Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Ashton Turner, Alex Carey(w), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa
India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Virat Kohli (captain), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
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