It will be fair to say that the 2023 ODI World Cup is yet to pick up, especially in terms of viewership and spectators inside the stadium. However, it’s all going to pick up as the host India play against mighty Aussies at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai. The stadium in expected to be jam-packed with no seat in the house vacant.
Before the start of the ODI World Cup, India and Australia played against each other for a 3-match ODI series. In the first 2 games of the series, India played with not-so World Cup squad but still managed to beat Australia. However, in the third game of the series, when India was playing with almost full strength, Australia managed to beat India convincingly. So, is it a worry? Well, to be honest, no. The team has looked really good and the players know what exactly is expected out of them. Hence, fans shouldn’t see one loss and should see how every player has come to his prime form.
Having said that, while coming to the Chepauk Stadium from my hotel, my auto driver didn’t ask me where to go and took me to the stadium. When asked as how he knew, he said, “Everyone is going there only”. We both smiled and I entered the stadium.
This itself shows the excitement and the build up around the game. However, the big question is – Is it just for the Indian games or our crowd will react in the same way for all the games? Well, only time will tell.
In the press conference held, Rohit Sharma mentioned that no Indian player is injured, it’s just the availability of Shubman Gill is still a question.
He went on to add, “I am a human being first and then a player. I want Gill to first get fit and healthy and then I wish to talk about his availability.”
Furthermore, it looks like that Gill’s availability is next to impossible. If that happens, then Ishan Kishan seems to be India’s first choice to open. Ishan also faced new ball against Mohammad Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah. With this, here’s how India’s Playing 11 against Australia might look like –
Rohit Sharma ©, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, and Kuldeep Yadav.
For Australia, it looks like that their playing 11 won’t see any changes to what they have experienced in the warm-up matches. Hence, here’s how Australia’s Playing 11 against India might look like –
David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins ©, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
Both teams have played against each other on the Indian soil quite some times on in the recent past. In the bilateral series before the Indian Premier League, Australia emerged as the winners. Further, right before the World Cup, India won 2-1.
With Australia’s record in World Cup and India playing on the home soil, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that it will be a closely fought contest. However, CaughtAtPoint believe- India are slightly ahead in the game.
Having said that, let’s not chew off what’s left of our fingers in great anticipation of this mega contest.
