The three-match ODI series between India and Australia commences from Tuesday. The first match is set to be played at Mumbai’s iconic Wankhede Stadium. Both teams are ready to fight it out in this series. As far as strategising is concerned, both the captains would want to have a rather close look at the past record of the Wankhede Stadium.
Notably, Wankhede is known to be a wicket which generally gives a slight advantage to the team batting second. India had even won the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 final at this iconic venue by chasing down the total set by Sri Lanka. However, India’s horror defeat to South Africa at this venue had also come while chasing.
Win the toss and field first at Wankhede?
Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium is undoubtedly one of the best cricket stadiums in the country. Whenever teams come out to play a match at Wankhede, they are generally looking to bat second. This is because with the due coming in and the Wankhede wicket already good for batting, the team batting second back themselves to chase down any total for set by the opposition.
Batting friendly wicket
The Wankhede wicket has always been a batting-friendly one. India’s highest score at this venue is 299. Notably, in 2015, South Africa had gone to score 438 runs at this venue. This is the highest team total at this venue. As many as three South African batsmen had scored tons in that particular match.
Fourth India-Australia clash at this venue
Tuesday’s clash would be the fourth India-Australia ODI encounter at this venue. In two of the three India-Australia games played at this venue, India have batted first twice and lost both those matches.
Their solitary win against Australia came at this venue when they were chasing down a total.
2017 was when the last ODI was played at this venue
In that match, despite a Virat Kohli hundred, India had lost the match by 6 wickets. This time again, India had batted first.
This makes the toss all the more important. However, given that both the teams appear strong on paper, one can expect a high voltage encounter at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.