Spectators during the India vs Australia match at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk in Chennai on Sunday, ahead of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 match between India and Australia.
| Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam
Australian skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and elected to bat in their World Cup opener against India in Chennai on October 8.
Talented India opener Shubman Gill, who is down with dengue, could not recover in time and left-handed Ishan Kishan has been drafted in as his replacement.
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“He [Shubman Gill] hasn’t recovered in time. Ishan comes in to replace him, he will open the batting,” Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said at the toss.
India and Australia have locked horns 12 times across all editions of the tournament, with the latter having won eight games. Both teams would hope to start their campaigns on a positive note as they script another chapter in the annals of a long-standing rivalry.
Though the 2003 World Cup will bring back fond memories for the Aussies, Indian fans would not be too keen on revisiting them. Indian batters put up an abysmal show in the group stage, stringing together a paltry 125 runs.
Teams:
India XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
Australia XI: David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Alex Carey(w), Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa