India have won the toss against Australia in the 1st ODI of the three-match series at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium and have elected to bowl.
“It is a good track and dew factor will be there. We feel we will do well in the second innings. I got some time off, breaks are like gold dust for me so it gave me a chance to rest and improve. Playing for India every game and every format is important. With this being a WC year, the ODI format is important” Pandya said at the toss.
India vs Australia Live Score 1st ODI Updates
“Good toss to lose. Happy batting first because I didn’t know what to do. We got to try our best to adjust to these conditions, and get our combinations right with the WC in mind. I think we played well in the back end (on BGT series), and plenty of fresh faces to choose from,” Smith said. “Alex Carey is sick so he has gone home, so Josh Inglis will come in today. David Warner is not yet fully fit, so Mitch Marsh will open the batting,” he added.
India will be looking to continue their good form in ODIs this year that has already seen them win all their six matches – against Sri Lanka and New Zealand over two separate series.
India will be without the regular captain Rohit Sharma, who would be away due to family commitments. Star allrounder Hardik Pandya, who has already led India in T20Is, will don the captain’s hat in this match.
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Pandya had announced in a press conference earlier on Thursday that Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan will be opening the innings for India.
“Ishan and Shubman will be opening the innings. The wicket looks how it does throughout the year. I have been playing here for almost seven years. It is going to be challenging because this wicket will give equal opportunities to both sides,” Pandya told reporters.
Pandya also mentioned that the team is focused on continuing in the same way as they have in bilateral series in the past.
“I don’t think we have tried anything new. We will be trying to be a little brave which I think in the last couple of series we have done quite well,” the 29-year-old said.
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He added that the team members were happy with the management’s policy on managing workload. “We have to have faith in our strength and conditioning coaches. I am a guy who trusts his team. These calls of workload, who should play when, who should not play, that is completely on the guys who are professionals and it is their call,” he said.
“All these guys are confident that if they miss out on some matches, then they miss out. It’s okay. That’s the confidence we have. If someone misses out because of workload management, this management has shown confidence and trust in the players. I think that’s the reason players who have gone out have come back with a lot of security,” he added.
Teams:
India XI: Hardik Pandya (C), Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Siraj and Mohammad Shami.
Australia XI: Steve Smith (C), Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, J Inglis, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Starc, Sean Abbott, Adam Zampa.
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