Indian opener Shubman Gill and all-rounders Shardul Thakur, and Axar Patel have not travelled with team India to Rajkot for the final ODI against Australia on September 27. In this situation, only 13 players are available for India but the side have been boosted with the return of skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as well.
With so many changes to the side, India lost the toss and were asked to bowl first.
India (Playing XI):
Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Australia (Playing XI):
Mitchell Marsh, David Warner, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey(w), Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Tanveer Sangha, Josh Hazlewood
Speaking ahead of the game, the India skipper confirmed that Ishan Kishan and Ravichandran Ashwin will miss out of this game. "Conditions are much better here, looks like there’s good weather. Decent temperature as well, we’re just looking forward to this game. The breaks are more important from a mental perspective than a physical one. Very happy with how we played, almost everything we wanted to do we got it done. Gives us a chance for us to see what we want to do.
"Myself, Virat, Kuldeep are all back. From the last game, Ashwin is also missing, Washington is in. Ishan is not well, he’s got viral fever so he misses out," he said.
Patel won't be playing in the third ODI due to an unresolved left quadriceps strain. Initially, India had planned to present their strongest team for the third ODI ahead of the World Cup warm-up matches. However, Mohammed Shami, who secured five wickets in the first ODI, and Hardik Pandya, who was given a break for the initial two matches, are also absent from the squad.
Meanwhile, Australia will have Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Starc also return to the side in what is a major boost to the team. Speaking after winning the toss, the skipper Pat Cummins said, "Looks like a good wicket, not sure how it’ll change in the 100 overs. GOod to get game time for everyone, don’t want to go into a world cup cold. Results haven’t gone our way but good day to change that. Different conditions here but we’ve played a lot over here so no surprises. We’ve made five changes, Starc and Maxwell are back."
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