IND vs AUS 5th Match Prediction

IND vs AUS Team Previews

India

The Indian team has been in scintillating form of late and is the top-ranked team in all three formats according to the latest ICC rankings. Since the beginning of this year, India has lost just 5 of the 18 completed matches and has won series against New Zealand, West Indies, and Australia, while also winning the Asia Cup.

While both the warm-up matches for India were washed away, it won’t be much of a concern for the team because the players got a much-deserved rest and will be fresh when they take on a formidable opponent like Australia. One of the most heartening features of India’s recent success is that almost all players have contributed equally.

The batting line-up consisting of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubhman Gill, and KL Rahul have all got runs under their belt and will be raring to have a go against the Australian pace attack. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have terrific records against Australia. One concern here is the fitness of Shubman Gill, who is reported to be running a fever.

It will also be inetersting to see whether India choses Shreyas Iyer or Suryakumar Yadav for this match.

The sqaud has two quality all-rounders in the form of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja. Jasprit Bumrah has recovered well from his injury and is once again in prime form.  

Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami bowled brilliant spells in the Asia Cup and the bilateral series against Australia respectively. The trio makes up for a formidable pace attack.

Ravichandran Ashwin, who made a late entry to the squad, adds bite to the spin department alongside Kuldeep Yadav. There are no real weaknesses in this India lineup and on a Chennai surface that always aids the spinners a little, the role of their two/three spinners will be vital.<br />  

Australia

Australia is the most successful team in World Cup history and has lifted the trophy for a record 5 times. They once again enter the tournament as one of the favorites to win and will look to make a strong start here.

Australia hasn’t been in the best of forms recently and suffered a 5-match losing streak, which is one of the longest in the team’s recent history. However, they did win their last international fixture against India and defeated Pakistan in a warm-up match, which should bring back some of the lost confidence.

Australia will depend on its strong top order to give them a good start. David Warner is in excellent form of late and will open the batting with Mitchell Marsh. The latter has done well with the bat as well as the ball and is just one of the many all-rounders in the squad, including Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, and Sean Abbott.

This abundance of all-round talent makes Australia very dangerous. Someone like Genn Maxwell or even Steve Smith or Marnus Labuschagne could provide a lot of support to Zampa in Chennai. The batting depth is also remarkable with genuine batting talent all the way down till number 8 or even 9.

Australia will bring in its top bowling talent to the match and is likely to start with Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood. The spin department does look a bit understaffed with Adam Zampa being the only full-time spinner on the team. 

The reality is that Australia is a different beast altogether when it comes to big events. They will bring their top game and the fact that they have been in the coutnry for quite some time now also works in their favor.<br />