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Team India management rested Mohammed Siraj for the first match of the ODI series against Australia in Mohali on Friday, September 22.
Senior players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, and Kuldeep Yadav were already rested for the first two matches to manage their workload ahead of the 2023 World Cup.
Siraj is in the squad but is sitting out in the first match. He is riding high on confidence at the moment with a sensational match-winning six-wicket haul against Sri Lanka last Sunday in the Asia Cup final.
In Siraj's absence, Mohammed Shami got a chance in the playing XI after missing a couple of matches in the Asia Cup. He will join Jasprit Bumrah and Shardul Thakur in the pace bowling department. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have reunited in ODIs for the first time after the 2017 Champions Trophy and will handle the spin department.
Fans were disappointed to see Siraj rested for the first match against Australia. They expressed their frustration on X (formerly Twitter). Here are some of them:
Team India captain KL Rahul wins the toss and opts to bowl first in IND vs AUS 1st ODI
Indian skipper KL Rahul won the toss and expectedly opted to field on a decent batting pitch in Mohali. Speaking after winning the toss, Rahul alluded that historically chasing has been the way to go at the venue. He said:
We will bowl first. Historically a good chasing ground, that’s about it. There are a few boxes that we need to tick and the boxes that we’ve ticked we need to keep doing it better.
On the challenge of facing a strong Australian side ahead of the World Cup, Rahul added:
"One more challenge, best team in the world so good to play against them. They are a very competitive team so we’ve enjoyed playing against them. It's always a great challenge to play them.
Here are the playing XIs:
India XI: Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(wk/c), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami
Australia XI: David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis(wk), Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Short, Pat Cummins(c), Sean Abbott, Adam Zampa
