India vs Australia, 3rd ODI: Preview and Predicted Playing XIs

India and Australia have played 120 completed One-Day Internationals against each other with the Aussies leading the scoreline by 74-46. In the 14 matches played at the MCG, the visitors have emerged victorious on five occasions. After losing the first ODI, the Men in Blue came back in the second One-Day game against the Aussies and leveled the series. Now both these sides will face each other in the third and deciding fixture at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on Friday, January 18.

In their previous meeting at this venue in January 2016, After being put into bat first, India posted 295/6 in their 50 overs, but the Aussies chased down their target in the penultimate over of the match to seal a three-wicket win.

India

The Indian camp would have been relieved after leveling the series and now aiming for a rare chance to complete the Test and ODI double over Australia in Australia. After the hiccups in the opening ODI, the visitors rode on their veterans MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli's knocks in the second ODI.

Batting

MS Dhoni is in top form at the moment and has cracked back to back fifties in both games (51 and 55*). The Wicketkeeper-batsman has been the backbone of India's batting line-up and the team will need him to continue the good work. Meanwhile, skipper Virat Kohli played a captain's knock scoring 104 runs off 112 balls.

Rohit Sharma has proved to be the spearhead for the Blues on Australian soil. The opener scored 133 in the first ODI and then played a crucial role in the second game scoring 43 runs off 54 balls to lay down a strong platform with Shikhar Dhawan (32). These two will be expected to come out all guns blazing in the final ODI.

Bowling

Mohammed Shami (3/58 in second ODI) will have a major role to play with the ball in Melbourne. The Aussies have struggled to score off him and the pacer is likely to make things tough for them in the final ODI as well. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar has been the leading wicket-taker for the Men in Blue so far and picked six wickets in two matches and him together with Kuldeep Yadav, who troubled the tourists in the series opener, will be expected to pick some wickets upfront. Meanwhile after the subpar performance from Khaleel Ahmed and Mohammad Siraj in respective games, Vijay Shankar might get the nod in the final ODI

Expected Playing XI

Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Dinesh Karthik, Ambati Rayudu/Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja (AR), MS Dhoni (W), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Shami, and Vijay Shankar.

Australia

Shaun Marsh performance has been exceptional on both games.

The Aussies will be a little disappointed with the result in the last game as they were in a strong position to win the clash but made few silly mistakes on crucial moments, which they would like to avoid in the next game. Still, the Australian side may take a lot of positives from the previous match and will come out confident in the next one.

Batting

Shaun Marsh certainly raised the bar in the batting department and once again, it will be up to him to deliver the goods with the bat. He cracked an impressive 54 in the first ODI followed by dating 131 in the second ODI to help his side post a decent total after early jolts. Meanwhile, Peter Handscomb and Glenn Maxwell scored 73* and 49 in respective fixtures and these two along with Stoinis will be expected to put their best foot forward in the series decider.

The Aussies will also need skipper Aaron Finch to score some runs at the top of the order. He has not been able to make an impact so far, which has been a concern for the team.

Bowling

Jhye Richardson has been the most successful bowler in the series with five wickets to his name and the right-arm fast bowler is going to be the main threat in this bowling attack. Apart from him, Marcus Stoinis and Jason Behrendorff have also done a good job with the ball. Once again, the onus will be on them to make the early inroads into the Indian batting line-up.

Expected Playing XI

Aaron Finch (C), Alex Carey (W), Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis (AR), Glenn Maxwell, Nathan Lyon, Peter Siddle, Jhye Richardson, and Jason Behrendorff.