Australia vs India, 2019: Hosts name playing XI for 3rd ODI, Behrendorff ruled out

Modified Jan 17, 2019 12:07 IST

What's the Story?

Australia have announced their playing XI for their 3rd and final ODI against India, scheduled to take place tomorrow at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Led by Aaron Finch, the Aussies have made 2 changes to their playing XI of the 2nd ODI.

They have benched under-performing off spinner Nathan Lyon and have replaced him with leg spinner Adam Zampa. Also, their left-arm fast bowler Jason Behrendorff has been ruled out because of a sore back and Billy Stanlake will replace him in the team.

The background

Australia are hosting India for a 3-match ODI series at home. Both the teams had earlier clashed in a T20I series as well as a Test series. The T20I series had ended in a draw as both the teams won one match each, while one washed out due to rain.

Later, the visitors won their first ever Test series Down Under by defeating Australia 2-1 in the test series. In the last phase of the tour, both the teams are battling in an ODI series which is tied at 1-1 currently with the decider scheduled for tomorrow.

The heart of the matter

Australia has made a total of two changes to their playing XI as Billy Stanlake and Adam Zampa will come in for the injured Jason Behrendorff and the out of form Nathan Lyon.

Behrendorff's availability for the final match was always in doubt after Aaron Finch made his back issues public, and with Billy Stanlake being the only pacer on the bench, is expected to play the 3rd ODI.

On the other hand, Nathan Lyon failed to pick even a single wicket in the first 2 ODIs and so has been dropped for the services of the leggie Adam Zampa.

Here's the playing XI of the home team for tomorrow's match - Aaron Finch, Alex Carey, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Peter Siddle, Adam Zampa, Billy Stanlake.