Australia vs India, 3rd ODI Match: The final match of the ODI series between India and Australia will be played today at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The Indian team has already lost the series after losing the first two matches played in Perth and Adelaide. The Indian team will aim to avoid a clean sweep and salvage its reputation by winning in Sydney. However, given its past record in Sydney, victory will not be easy for the Indian team.
Shubman Gill was selected as the captain in place of Rohit Sharma against Australia. However, Team India did not start well under Gill's captaincy. Team India lost 2 consecutive matches. After that, a new shameful record is practically on the doorstep under Shubman's captaincy.
Team India has never been whitewashed in an ODI series against Australia in the last 41 years. The last time Australia swept Team India in a five-match ODI series was in 1984, when they defeated Team India 3-0. The remaining two matches of the series remained undecided. At that time, Team India was captained by Sunil Gavaskar. If India loses the third ODI in Sydney this time, then Shubman Gill will have another unwanted record in his cap.
India's Performance in Sydney
The Indian team has played 21 ODIs in Sydney. In these, Team India has won only 5 matches. The Indian team has lost the remaining 16 matches. Out of the 5 won matches, 3 matches have come against other teams. India has won only 2 out of 18 matches played against Australia and has faced defeat in 16 matches. India won its last ODI in Sydney in 2016. These figures are going to take away the peace of mind of the Indian team from the match to be held on Saturday. Sydney is considered a heaven for batsmen. Since 2016, in the 9 matches played on this ground, the team batting first has been the winner.
Kuldeep May Select in Playing-11 for 3rd ODI
There is a lot of speculation about what India's starting XI will be for the honour-saving match. Given the disappointing performance of the Indian bowlers in the first two matches, the team management may consider keeping Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI for the third ODI. Kuldeep bowled brilliantly in the 2025 Asia Cup and the recent two-match Test series against the West Indies, becoming the highest wicket-taker in both series. Kuldeep holds the record for taking a five-wicket haul in Test cricket in Sydney. As a result, Kuldeep Yadav may get a chance in Sydney instead of Nitish Kumar Reddy or Washington Sundar. Reddy scored just 8 runs in the second ODI and gave away 24 runs in three overs. On the other hand, Sundar scored 12 runs and took 2 wickets in Adelaide, giving away 37 runs in seven overs.
Questions on Virat Kohli's Failure
Virat Kohli was dismissed without scoring in Perth and then Adelaide. He has scored just one run in his last three ODI innings. Rumors have begun to circulate that he may retire from ODI cricket after the third match. Given Kohli's stature as a player, he may get a chance in the third ODI. Amidst the speculation about retirement, his performance in the Sydney ODI may be determining whether he will continue to play in the ODI team after the Australia series.
AUS vs IND Head-to-Head
Overall, in the ODI head-to-head, India and Australia have taken on each other 154 times, with Australia leading with 86 wins. India have also secured 58 games, while 10 games have ended without a result.
Pitch Report of Sydney Cricket Ground
The pitch of Sydney Cricket Ground is considered to be suitable for batting. In such a situation, a high-scoring match can be seen between the two teams on this ground. The team winning the toss will choose to bat first. By the way, a total of 168 ODI matches have been played here so far, in which 96 matches have been won by batting first. He has won 64 matches while bowling first. The average score on this ground is 224 in the first innings and 189 in the second.
Australia Squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Jack Edwards, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitchell Owen, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Matthew Short, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa.
India Squad: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal.
