India vs Australia 2nd ODI: A last chance for teams to test bench strength as key players sit out

With their key players likely to make it into the playing XI in the third game, India and Australia might have one last opportunity to tinker with team combination before the World Cup. While the hosts would like to go into the marquee event with a solid series win against the Aussies, the visitors would be aiming to avoid back-to-back series losses.

Hyderabad: India are going to lock horns against Australia in Indore on Sunday to build on the winning momentum from the last game. Notably, it will be the last chance for India to tinker with their team combination as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav are likely to be back into the side for the third game.

In the first ODI, Shubman Gill went all guns blazing while Suryakumar Yadav regained his touch before the World Cup. Also, Mohammad Shami displayed a bowling masterclass that might have made the team management brainstorm about choosing three specialist seamers or two seamers and one all-rounder to increase the batting depth in the team combination. The proposed move is likely to give firepower to the batting lineup. Prasidh Krishna is expected to get a look in amid talks of his potential as a fast bowler provided he is given the opportunity to excel. Also, he has been impressive taking 26 wickets from 15 ODIs since his international debut.

For Australia, the second game will provide the side a chance to improve their performance as the flat nature of the surface in Indore is likely to help their cause. Also, boundary dimensions are quite small and that will encourage batters to go big. Although David Warner scored fifty in the last game, Marnus Labuschagne will be in the spotlight as he has done pretty much everything right to be included in the World Cup roster since the series against South Africa. All in all, Australia will need their batters to pump a huge total on the scoreboard to outplay the hosts.

Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell might get slotted into the team for the final ODI of the series and so the Aussies have to try out the permutations and combinations they want before the two spots are filled by this duo.

1. Time: 1:30 PM IST
2. Venue: Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore
3. Where to Watch: Sports 18 Networks and Jio Cinema

Interesting facts not to miss ahead of the fixture:

Shubman Gill is the sole batter to score four or more hundreds in 2023 while registering an average of 70.37 and a strike rate of 104.84 in the 50-over format.

Steve Smith has attacked Ravindra Jadeja with an average of 188 and a strike rate of 120.5 in the ODIs.