3rd ODI: Australia elect to bat against India, Kuldeep and Prasidh come in

Sydney, Oct 25 (IANS) Australia have won the toss and elected to bat first against in the third ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Saturday. Australia have already clinched the series after wins in Perth and Adelaide respectively.

India, meanwhile, are hoping to avoid an ODI series clean sweep against Australia for the first time. In the hope of getting a consolation win, India have brought in left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav and seamer Prasidh Krishna in place of Arshdeep Singh and Nitish Kumar Reddy.

“We would have bowled first. Have a target on the total and then try to chase down, I think we got what we wanted. We had just enough runs (in the last game) on the board and a couple of chances coming our way which we couldn't take.”

“That happens in the game of cricket, you've got to take your chances. The game was going on pretty even till about the 40th over. In the end, they played well. Hopefully this game is going to be a good one for us,” said India captain Shubman Gill.

An update from the BCCI ahead of the toss said Reddy was unavailable for selection for third ODI after sustaining a left quadriceps injury during the second game in Adelaide, with the medical team monitoring him on a daily basis. Reddy is also in India’s squad for the subsequent five-match T20I series in Australia.

Australia, meanwhile, have brought back Nathan Ellis back in place of Xavier Bartlett. “Seems like a really nice wicket. It's going to be a beautiful day here at the SCG. The way the young guys stoop up towards the back end, it's great signs for our team. Today's a great opportunity to go 3-0 up in the series. Cooper (Connolly) is a calm character and he played terrifically in the last game,” said skipper Mitchell Marsh.

Playing XIs

India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna

Australia: Mitchell Marsh (captain), Travis Head, Matthew Short, Matt Renshaw, Alex Carey (wk), Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Nathan Ellis, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, and Josh Hazlewood

–IANS

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