IND vs AUS Preview: High expectations set as India start their campaign

The Men in Blue will finally begin their World Cup 2023 campaign as they lock horns against Australia on Sunday, October 08 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. The Rohit Sharma-led side hasn’t played a single game in the tournament yet as both of their warm-up fixtures vs England and Netherlands were washed out due to inclement weather.

On the other hand, Australia won their second warm-up fixture against Pakistan by 14 runs while their first warm up game against Netherlands ended in no result. India and Australia recently met in a three-match ODI series ahead of the World Cup where the hosts emerged victorious by 2-1.

Ahead of the fixture, star India opener Shubman Gill is likely to miss out from the game as he’s down with dengue fever. However, coach Rahul Dravid has revealed that the youngster is under medical supervision and hasn’t been ruled out yet.

On the other hand, most of the players have recovered from their injuries in the Australian camp apart from Marcus Stoinis and Tarvis Head. Stoinis pulled his hamstring during the recent series against India is unlikely to feature in the first game while Head is still going through his rehabilitation and is yet to join the team in India.

Pitch Report

There have been a total of 23 ODIs played at the venue where out of which 14 have been won by teams batting first while one game has ended in no result. The average first innings score in the last five matches has been 272 whereas the highest target chased in the history of the venue is 288 by West Indies vs

India in 2019. Furthermore, out of the last five ODI that India have played in Chennai, they managed to win just two out of those.

Captain winning the toss is likely to bat first as chasing under lights gets tricky at the venue. Notably, India also lost their last game in Chennai against Australia in March earlier this year as they failed to chase down the target of 270 and lost the match 21 runs.

Probable Playing XI: