Team India is set to lock horns against Australia for the three-match ODI series, beginning from October 19.
Ahead of the tournament, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will return to the action after the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 triumph in March.
The duo will feature in the Australia series, as they prepare to play in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2027, which is scheduled to be hosted in South Africa. Additionally, Rohit has been replaced by Shubman Gill as the ODI captain for the “Men in Blue”.
Also, Shreyas Iyer has been named as Gill`s deputy.
Australia is yet to announce its squad for India`s contest.
Ahead of the series, former Australian cricketer Aaron Finch feels that the Aussies will come victorious by 2-1 against the Indians. He also said that when the opponents are Australia, it brings out the `A-game` of Virat.
“It will be a great series. It always is against India, and I think having Virat back in there brings out the best in him against Australia,” said the former right-handed batsman.
“It is always a great battle when you look at it on paper as it is very evenly matched, but I would say Australia (win the series) 2-1. Not confidently though, as India are a great side and it will just be a great series to watch,” he concluded.
During his playing days, Finch featured in 32 ODI matches against India and scored 1460 runs. With an average of 48.66, he also has four centuries and nine half-centuries, with a top score of 124 runs.
The first ODI match between Team India and Australia is scheduled to be played on October 19 at the Optus Stadium in Perth. The second match will be played on October 23 at the Adelaide Oval. The third and final ODI between the two teams will be played on October 25 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
India`s squad for the three-match ODI series against Australia: Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill (C), Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (WK), KL Rahul (WK), Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
(With ANI Inputs)