India will take on Australia in the fifth One-Day International (ODI) at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Monday. Australia are the table-toppers, and are already through to the final. The home team have beaten England twice, and India once already in the series.
India, on the other hand, have lost both their games so far, one each to England and Australia. The visitors’ batting has been a huge let-down, with the likes of Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane failing to replicate the success they enjoyed in the Test series. Meanwhile, Shikhar Dhawan continues to look vulnerable at the top, which in turn has put pressure on the others.
In the fourth ODI, Australia beat England, with a second-string side. Captaining Australia for the first time in ODIs, Steven Smith continued to break records by becoming the first man in history to score a ton on captaincy debut in two formats. With George Bailey expected to return to the helm after serving a one-match ban, it will be interesting to see whether Smith is given another game as the captain. Australia are likely to shuffle things up a bit and give the other members of their squad some match practice ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.
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Mitchell Starc has been one of the best bowlers — if not the best — on display in the series. He has taken 11 wickets at an average of 13.18 in the series so far, including six against India in their last encounter. He will be the man India will fear the most. Meanwhile, Pat Cummins has looked threatening, but has at times been guilty of straying in line and length.
For the visitors, an encouraging all-round performance from Stuart Binny was the only positive from their shambolic performance against England in the third game. Binny had top-scored for India, and taken the only wicket England lost. While Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been economical for India, Umesh Yadav has been far too wayward for India’s liking. Umesh has clearly not learnt much from the pasting he received in the Test series, and continues to bowl on both sides of the wicket without finding any type of consistency.
India go into the match desperately needing a win to stand a chance of qualifying for the final. The added pressure could serve as a massive boost, with this side having done well with their backs to the wall in the past. Australia will undoubtedly go in as favourites, but India can never be ruled out in ODIs.
Squads:
India: MS Dhoni (c&wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Stuart Binny, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohit Sharma.
Australia: George Bailey (c), David Warner, Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, Steven Smith, Brad Haddin (wk), James Faulkner, Glenn Maxwell, Xavier Doherty, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Gurinder Sandhu, Kane Richardson.
Time: 08:50 IST | 03:20 GMT
(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek and Cricket fanatic. You can follow him on Twitter @ShiamakUnwalla)
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