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ICC World Cup 2019: Australia predicted XI against India - Southpaw likely to return
Australia might decide to replace Usman Khawaja with Shaun Marsh, with the latter having a tremendous record against India.
Defending champions Australia could not have asked for a better start to their World Cup campaign. The Aaron Finch-led side defeated Afghanistan by 7 wickets in their first game and then went on to hold their nerves against West Indies to pull off a 15-run win. ((ICC World Cup 2019: Full Coverage))
The bowling unit, led by seamers Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins has looked good and Australia would not want to make any changes in that department, considering India’s weakness against fast bowling on overseas surface. Adam Zampa has been a good spin bowling option, and it is highly unlikely, the Aussies would replace him with Nathan Lyon, who does not enjoy a good record in the limited-overs format.
If anything is to learn from the previous ODI, Australia’s top order appears to be a little wobbly, with Usman Khawaja not getting runs on the board in his newfound position. The left-handed batsman made a case for himself to be included in the World Cup squad after he was among the runs in the ODI series against India and Pakistan, prior to the tournament.
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But the drop to the third position from the opening slot may have hampered his confidence a bit and Australia would not want the top order to struggle against a top team such as India. Luckily, they have a perfect replacement in their arsenal in Shaun Marsh.
The inclusion of Marsh would allow Steve Smith to come bat at his preferred no. 3 position, in which he batted at 2015 World Cup and scored a ton in the semifinal to eliminate India. Marsh can come and bat at the no. 4 position. The left-handed batsman also enjoys a great record against India in the 50-overs format.
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In 14 ODIs, Marsh has hammered 537 runs at an average of 38.34. He has also sccored 3 fifties and 2 tons against the opposition and with the highest score of 131. Marsh’s inclusion would solidy Australia’s top-and-middle order.
Here is Australia’s Predicted XI vs India:
Aaron Finch (c), David Warner, Shaun Marsh, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa
