Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli return, Shreyas Iyer to keep place: India predicted XI vs Australia in 3rd ODI
India's senior players return for the third ODI in which the team could record its first ever whitewash against Australia in the history of the format.
Captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah all return for India's third ODI against Australia, which will also be their last before the start of the practice games ahead of the 2023 World Cup. India also have a chance of inflicting a whitewash on Australia for the first time ever in the ODI format, having dominated the first two ODIs.
Rohit all but revealed the playing XI in the pre-match press conference. The Indian captain said that he essentially has a depleted team to choose from due to a combination of players being rested and a bout of viral fever going around the camp. While all-rounder Hardik Pandya was never part of the squad for the series, Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur have returned home for personal reasons. In-form opener Shubman Gill is set to be rested, and with Ruturaj Gaikwad also to be rested with the Asian Games men's matches drawing closer, he could open the innings with Ishan Kishan.
The absent players means that Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav will play in the middle order Kuldeep, Bumrah and Siraj fit right back into the squad. India are also set to retain Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, with the latter looking increasingly likely to be in the squad for the World Cup if Axar Patel is unable to return to full fitness before the tournament.
Rohit noted that India had done almost everything right in the series thus far. Mohammed Shami took five wickets in the first ODI while Gill, Gaikwad, Rahul and Suryakumar all scored half centuries. In the second, Shreyas Iyer finally got to spend time in the middle and scored a century, as did Gill with India batting first and putting up a mammoth total of 399/5. Suryakumar's form in this series has been especially impressive. While he ditched his aggressive shots to score 50 in 49 balls in the first ODI, Suryakumar succeeded in T20 mode as well, smashing a whirlwind 72 not out in 37 balls in the second which included four consecutive sixes in an over.
Iyer, meanwhile, will be looking to get another big score under his belt with the intense competition in the middle order due to the recent performances of Kishan and Rahul in the No.4 position. Iyer was originally seen as India's automatic choice in that spot but both Kishan and Rahul have done well while he was out injured.
India's predicted XI vs Australia in 3rd ODI-
Top-order: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli
Middle Order: Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav
All-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin
Bowlers: Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
