One thing evident in Hardik Pandya's sporadic stints as India's captain is his clarity. He has been crystal clear about the team he wants, the approach with which he wants to take the team forward, the players he wants to back. And he has been very involved in all of this. A never-seen-before emotive side of Hardik Pandya has been on display every time he has stepped on the field as India's captain. On Friday, he made his ODI captaincy debut as regular skipper Rohit Sharma was not available due to personal reasons. And once again, the proactive and involved with everything Hardik Pandya came to the fore.
After opting to bowl first, India got off to a dream start as Mohammed Siraj rattled the stumps of Travis Head in the second over of the match. Steve Smith and Mitchell Marsh, however, took little time to wrestle the momentum back towards Australia. Marsh hit Siraj for three fours in his next over and Shami too got away from his lovely line and length.
India vs Australia Live Score 1st ODI
Amid all this, Siraj was stopped on his run-up by Steve Smith in the sixth over. The stand-in Australia skipper had some issues with the sight screen. This is nothing unusual in the cricket field, movement around the sight screen is quite normal and so are batters pulling out.
But Hardik Pandya, who brought himself into the attack from Shami's end in the seventh over did not like it all when the same thing was repeated. Hardik was running in to bowl his third delivery when Marsh pulled out because of movement around the sight screen area. Hardik was furious. While walking back to his mark, he had an animated discussion with umpire Nitin Menon and even resorted to a glare at Marsh. It was not clear whether he was pissed at Marsh or the spectators.
Watch Video: Hardik Pandya fumes afrer being stopped in his run-up by Mitchell Marsh
{{/usCountry}}But Hardik Pandya, who brought himself into the attack from Shami's end in the seventh over did not like it all when the same thing was repeated. Hardik was running in to bowl his third delivery when Marsh pulled out because of movement around the sight screen area. Hardik was furious. While walking back to his mark, he had an animated discussion with umpire Nitin Menon and even resorted to a glare at Marsh. It was not clear whether he was pissed at Marsh or the spectators.
Watch Video: Hardik Pandya fumes afrer being stopped in his run-up by Mitchell Marsh
{{/usCountry}}India have six bowling options on Friday as they have decided to play Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur. Jadeja has returned to the ODI scheme of things after a long time. Kuldeep Yadav was preferred over Yuzvendra Chahal as the lead spinner. Shami and Siraj were specialist seamers, with captain Pandya being the fourth option.
Australian opener David Warner was not fully fit after he left the preceding Test series midway through with a concussion and a hairline fracture of the elbow, skipper Steve Smith said after the toss. Josh Inglis will take the gloves to replace wicketkeeper Alex Carey, who is unwell.