Tensions between India and Pakistan over the past week may force the Board of Control for Cricket in India to shift the fourth One-Day International against Australia out of Mohali.
The match, scheduled to take place on March 10, was originally going to be played at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali, but with security on high alert at India’s north-west border, the BCCI is looking at Lucknow and Rajkot as possible venues for the fourth ODI.
According to a report in Mid-Day, the Saurashtra Cricket Association has applied to host the match. “We have applied to conduct the match and we are ready to host the match. However, we have not been told anything so far whether we are hosting the game,” an SCA official was quoted as saying.
India and Australia head into a five-match ODI series in Hyderabad on Saturday. The second, third and fifth matches will be played at Nagpur, Ranchi and Delhi respectively.
Australia completed a 2-0 series-sweep against India in the T20 Internationals a couple of days ago. With the ICC World Cup in England less than two months away, both teams will be looking to build momentum in the ODIs that are to follow.
India and Australia’s squads for the ODI series
India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Ambati Rayudu, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar, Kuldeep Yadav, Siddarth Kaul (first two ODIs), Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (last three ODIs).
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, D’Arcy Short, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa, Andrew Tye.