The reunion of the successful spin bowling combo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in colored jersey has been a talking point heading into the ICC World Cup next month. Eyeing a last-minute entry into the World Cup squad, veteran off-spinner Ashwin made a comeback to white ball cricket on Friday as India’s stand-in skipper KL Rahul invited Australia to bat after winning the toss in the first of the three-match ODI series being played at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium, Mohali.

In what is dubbed as the final dress rehearsal ahead of the ICC World Cup, starting October 5, the series presents a chance for both sides to work on their shortcomings before the mega event.

India, fresh from winning their eighth Asia Cup title last week, did not get much chance to chase totals during the tournament, except for the dead rubber against Bangladesh and last Sunday’s final in which the openers hunted down the Sri Lankan total of 50 with utter ease. Australia, meanwhile, are back in action after the 3-2 drubbing from South Africa in their previous outing.

As far as the teams are concerned, India have decided to test their bench after resting the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav for the first couple of games. With head coach Rahul Dravid throwing his weight behind a misfiring Suryakumar Yadav, it will be interesting to see how the Mumbaikar responds to the faith.

Another Mumbai batter Shreyas Iyer, who was down with a back spasm after returning to international cricket at the Asia Cup following a long injury lay-off, has returned to the Playing XI.

In the pace bowling department, India decided to rest Asia Cup final star Mohammed Siraj and included Mohammed Shami to give him much-needed game time.

For Australia, skipper Pat Cummins and senior batter Steve Smith are back after different wrist injuries that kept them out of the South Africa series. Australia, though, are battling a lot of injury issues. Pacer Mitchell Starc (groin) and all-rounder Glenn Maxwell (ankle) are unavailable today.

Maxwell is flying to India right now having been at home for the birth of his baby boy after coming home from the South Africa T20 series without playing due to ankle soreness. Ashton Agar is not in India as he is awaiting the arrival of his first child. Nathan Ellis (adductor) and Sean Abbott (split webbing) suffered injuries last Sunday and Travis Head is in doubt for the World Cup after breaking his hand.

Teams:

India: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (C & WK), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

Australia: David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis (WK), Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Short, Pat Cummins (C), Sean Abbott, Adam Zampa