India vs Australia 3rd ODI Preview: Virat Kohli & Co. to battle for pride in Canberra

India vs Australia: India lost the first two ODIs in the three-match series against Australia. In the dead rubber on Wednesday, Virat Kohli & co. will battle for pride.

Pride will be the name of the game for India when Virat Kohli’s men take on Australia in the third and final ODI of the series at Manuka Oval, Canberra on Wednesday. The three-match series has already slipped out of Kohli’s hands with Aaron Finch’s men taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. India batting line-up of Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and HardiK Pandya have lived up to the reputation so far.

India's Virat Kohli passes the ball to teammate Jasprit Bumrah during the one day international cricket match between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney, Australia, Sunday. (AP)

But the bowling line comprising of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja and Navdeep Saini have left a lot to ask for. Australia batsmen have toyed with Indian bowlers, smashing 374/6 in the first ODI on the back of Finch and Steve Smith’s ton, and 389/5 in the 2nd ODI with Smith smashing another hundred.

Going into the final game of the 50-overs series, Kohli will be looking at his bowling unit and he would obviously be looking to make a change or two. Navdeep Saini has really struggled in Sydney among seamers, getting hit for 83/1 in 10 overs in the first ODI, and then giving 70/0 in 7 overs in the 2nd ODI. Kohli might bring in inexperienced T Natarjan into the mix to see if he can inspire some magic in the Indian pace unit.

With the series out of hands, India do not really have anything more to lose - so giving an opportunity to an uncapped player might not be such a bad idea. On the other hand, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja too have struggled - but Jadeja provides an additional batsman in the team - and hence Chahal might make way for Kuldeep Yadav, who has a good record against Australia.

India will also be hoping the change in venue from Sydney to Canberra might bring a change in the pitch conditions - which they can exploit to their advantage in the 3rd ODI. The Australia, with the series in their hands, can make a few changes in the player combinations and test out players on the bench before the upcoming T20I series.

Squads:

India: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (vice-captain & wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan

Australia: Aaron Finch (Captain), D’arcy Short, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Cameron Green, Moises Henriques, Andrew Tye, Daniel Sams, Matthew Wade (wicketkeeper).