India will be playing for pride when they take on hosts Australia in the fifth and final ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground on January 23, 2016. Australia have dominated India in all the four ODIs of the series and comprehensively won the series.
After having made flat pitches for all the matches so far, it can be expected that the home side will go with a similar pitch in Sydney if rain does not play spoilsport on Saturday.
Despite missing key stars like Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, an inexperienced Australian bowling lineup has caused problems for India and contained the Indian batsmen well enough to restrict them from winning.
India's batting has been good in patches as a few of the batsmen have been consistent throughout. The finisher's role is one that is a major concern for India as there seems to be a lot of burden on the top-order.
Australia will be looking to clean sweep the series and win their 19th consecutive ODI match at home before the three-match T20I series starts on January 26.
Broadcast Details
TV Channel: Star Sports 1, HD1 (English) and 3, HD3 (Hindi)
Online Stream: www.starsports.com
Date: January 23, Saturday
Time: 08:50 IST | 14:20 Local
Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
For any other updates regarding the match, follow the Sportskeeda website.
Team News
Australia
Glenn Maxwell's injury from the fourth ODI is the only concern for the home side. If Maxwell does not make the squad, it seems most likely that Shaun Marsh will make his way back into the squad.
India
Ajinkya Rahane, who split his webbing during the fourth ODI in Canberra, is unlikely to be risked for this game which means that Manish Pandey will most likely get a chance to come back into the side.
SCG, being the most spin-friendly of Australian pitches, could mean that Ravichandran Ashwin will probably get to feature in the playing XI instead of all-rounder Rishi Dhawan.
Possible Line-ups
Australia XI
David Warner, Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh, Steven Smith (C), George Bailey, Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade (WK), James Faulkner, John Hastings, Kane Richardson, Nathan Lyon.
India XI
Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma.
Pitch & Conditions
The SCG pitch will offer more turn for the spinners than the other pitches did. According to the weather forecast, Saturday morning is expected to bring showers and storms.
Recent Form
Australia: W-W-W-W-W (most recent first)
India: L-L-L-L-L
Key Stats
Australia will be looking to extend their unbeaten home run in ODIs to 19.
- India will go down from No. 2 to No.3 in the ODI Rankings if they lose the fifth ODI.
- The last ODI played at the SCG was also between India and Australia on March 26, 2015, in the 2015 World Cup semi-final.
- Virat Kohli is the top run-getter in the series so far with 373 runs. Rohit Sharma is his closest competitor with 342 runs. Steven Smith, with 287 runs to his name, is the highest run-getter for Australia so far.
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