RAJKOT, India, Jan 17, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Australian captain Aaron Finch
won the toss and made India bat first in the second one day international
between the two fierce rivals on Friday.
India must win in Rajkot to avoid a humiliating home defeat in the three
match series after their 10 wicket drubbing in the first game.
Finch said it was a “beautiful wicket” which made it an automatic choice
to give his bowlers the first chance on the pitch.
KL Rahul became the official wicketkeeper for India, with Rishabh Pant
ruled out following a concussion in Tuesday’s match. Rahul stood in for Pant
after he left the field in Mumbai.
Manish Pandey takes Pant’s place as batsman while Navdeep Saini comes in
for Shardul Thakur in a bid to bolster India’s fast bowling.
India captain Virat Kohli put himself back as number three batsman after
experimenting by putting his three options for openers at the top of the
order for the first game.
The series is a key preparation for both sides ahead of the Twenty20 World
Cup in Australia starting in October.
India
Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (capt), KL Rahul (wk), Shreyas
Iyer, Manish Pandey, Ravindra Jadeja, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed
Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
Australia
David Warner, Aaron Finch (capt) Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Alex
Carey, Ashton Turner, Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Kane
Richardson, Adam Zampa.
Umpires: Richard Kettleborough (ENG), Virender Sharma (IND)
TV umpire: Michael Gough (ENG)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI)