India stand-in captain Hardik Pandya has won the toss and chose to bowl in the first of a three-match ODI series against Australia at the Wankhede Stadium. Having led India 11 times in the shortest format, Pandya is leading the national team for the first time in place of regular captain Rohit Sharma today.
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“We’ll bowl first. It is a good track and dew factor will be there. We feel we will do well in the second innings. I got some time off, breaks are like gold dust for me so it gave me a chance to rest and improve,” Pandya told host broadcaster Star Sports Network at the toss.
Australia stand-in captain Steven Smith was happy to have been asked to bat first because he wasn’t sure about what he would’ve done upon winning the toss.
“Good toss to lose. Happy batting first because I didn’t know what to do. We got to try our best to adjust to these conditions, and get our combinations right with the [ICC Cricket] World Cup in mind,” Smith told Star Sports at the toss.
Why is Rohit Sharma not playing today vs Australia?
Playing their first ODI in the last six weeks, the home team has made four changes to the Playing XI which faced New Zealand in Indore in January. Sharma, all-rounder Washington Sundar, fast bowler Umran Malik and spinner Yuzvendra Chahal have made way for wicket-keeper batter KL Rahul, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and fast bowlers Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj.
Sharma’s absence for this match was confirmed upon the announcement of the squad last month. “Mr Rohit Sharma will be unavailable for the first ODI due to family commitments,” BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) had said in a statement then. Readers must note that Sharma isn’t playing this match because of his brother-in-law’s marriage.
Australia, meanwhile, are playing an ODI after almost four months. Having last faced world champions England in Melbourne, Australia have also made four changes to their Playing XI.
Opening batter David Warner, wicket-keeper batter Alex Carey, regular captain Pat Cummins and fast bowler Josh Hazlewood have made way for wicket-keeper batter Josh Inglis, all-rounders Cameron Green and Glenn Maxwell and fast bowler Mitchell Starc.
