Sydney ODI: Kuldeep Yadav returns to Team India XI
What's the story
Australia captain Mitchell Marsh has won the toss and opted to bat first against India in the third and final ODI of the ongoing series at the Sydney Cricket Ground. While Australia made one change in their playing XI, India brought in two changes from their last match. Kuldeep Yadav has been finally added to the XI, alongisde Prasidh Krishna as India are trailing 0-2 in the series. Here are further details.
Australia XI
Ellis is back in for Bartlett
Marsh explained his decision to bat first by saying, "It looks like a very nice wicket. It is going to be a very nice day." "Today's a great opportunity to go 3-0 up in the series," the Aussie skipper further stated. Meanwhile, Nathan Ellis is back in the Aussie XI, replacing Xavier Bartlett. Australia (Playing XI): Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Matthew Short, Matt Renshaw, Alex Carey (w), Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Nathan Ellis, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
India
Two changes in India's playing XI
India, who are trailing 0-2 in the series, are looking to avoid a clean sweep in Shubman Gill's maiden ODI captaincy assignment. For the final game, they have brought in Kuldeep and Prasidh as Nitish Kumar Reddy and Arshdeep Singh miss out. Notably, Reddy is unavailable due to a left quadriceps injury. India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
Details
Pitch report and conditions
The SCG is known for its batting-friendly conditions, with the ball coming nicely onto the bat. However, fast bowlers will have to work hard to get movement and take wickets. As the match progresses, spinners are likely to come into play. Teams batting first have emerged victorious in each of the last nine ODIs at the SCG, as per ESPNcricinfo.
H2H
A look at head-to-head record
India and Australia have faced each other 154 times in ODI cricket, according to ESPNcricinfo. Out of these encounters, India have won 58 matches while Australia have emerged victorious on 86 occasions (NR: 10). When it comes to games played on Australian soil, the two teams have clashed 56 times, with India winning just 14 matches and losing 40 (NR: 2).