India bounced back after the 10-wicket defeat in the first ODI as Virat Kohli and his men played aggressive cricket at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Friday and put on a stellar performance with both bat and ball to level the series 1-1. Both the teams will be playing the series decider at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.
India’s record in series deciders in limited-overs cricket has almost been 100% in the recent past as they lost the only deciders in recent times were against England and Australia in 2018 and 2019 respectively. However, India has some injury concerns as there is still no update on the injuries of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and Rishabh Pant. Australia has a couple of selection conundrums as they might consider including Josh Hazlewood.
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It will be partly cloudy in Bangalore on Sunday, however, there are no chances of any rain. The playing conditions should be pleasant. The pitch at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium is generally flat but occasionally assists the spinners too. Due to its higher altitude (in comparison to some of the other grounds in India), the air is much thinner and the ball travels quite a distance. With another high-scoring game expected, here are some of teh predictions for the match:
India
Virat Kohli was very confident about Rohit being fit for the third ODI, but if the Indian deputy skipper continues to feel the pain, the team management might not want to risk his injury. In case he doesn’t play, KL Rahul will be promoted up the order, while Kedar Jadhav will be slotted in at no. 5.
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However, if Sharma is a completely fit, India is likely to go with an unchanged XI, with him and Shikhar Dhawan (considering him being fit as well) opening the batting and Rahul coming down at no. 5 (just like the last time).
Predicted XI: Shikhar Dhawan/KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul/Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah
Australia
Australia might think about replacing Ashton Agar with D’Arcy Short, who possesses the skills to bat in the middle order as well despite being an opener. While his batting credentials are better than Agar’s, he can be the visiting team’s fifth bowling option as well, along with Marnus Labuschagne. Kane Richardson might also have to make way for Josh Hazlewood, who Australia might use with the new ball while holding Pat Cummins back for the middle overs.
Predicted XI: Aaron Finch, David Warner, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, D’Arcy Short, Alex Carey, Ashton Turner, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
Fantasy XI Prediction:
KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith, Aaron Finch (vc), Marnus Labuschagne, Ravindra Jadeja, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah.
