Australian captain Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to bat first in the fifth and final One-Day International against India on Wednesday.
The hosts went in with two changes for the series decider at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi. Ravindra Jadeja was brought back into the side in place of Yuzvendra Chahal, and pacer Mohammed Shami took KL Rahul’s place in the XI.
“In terms of team composition, we know which way we are going,” said Indian captain Virat Kohli at the toss. “Chahal misses out and Jadeja comes in as an all-rounder. KL misses out to make way for Shami, giving us an extra bowling option. This, we feel, is our most balanced side.”
Australia opted to make two changes, too. All-rounder Marcus Stoinis, who had injured his shoulder before the start of the previous game and was forced to sit out, returned to the XI in place of middle-order batsman Shaun Marsh.
Also returning to the Australian team was experienced off-spinner Nathan Lyon, with left-arm seamer Jason Behrendorff taking the bench.
“Hopefully we can get a big score and defend it later,” said Finch. “It’s important to keep the momentum, whenever you get the opportunities with the bat, take it, and take the team across the line.”
After winning the first two ODIs with relative ease, India failed to seal the series in the next two games. The Aussies have fought back well to level the series 2-2 and force a decider.
Wednesday’s game is India’s last ODI before the ICC 2019 World Cup in England. Kohli and Co will be looking to get a win and build some much-needed momentum ahead of the mega event.
Playing XIs for the 5th ODI
India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Rishabh Pant (w), Kedar Jadhav, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Turner, Alex Carey (w), Jhye Richardson, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Nathan Lyon.
