ODI World Cup 2023: Ravi Ashwin picked, Gill miss out as Australia bat first against India in Chennai

Australia has won the toss and elected to bat first against India in Chennai.

Here are the playing XIs of both India and Australia –

India- Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah

Australia- David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa and Josh Hazlewood

Hosts India are going in with three specialist spinners, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav. Australia will bank on the duo of Adam Zampa and all-rounder Glenn Maxwell.

The pace bowling department is stacked, with India opting for Mohammed Siraj ahead of Shami while Bumrah will lead the attack. Hardik Pandya’s seam bowling will come into action at some point during the game.

"Body feels good,” Bumrah said ahead of the toss on Sunday.

“You miss the feeling of contributing to the team so excited for the tournament. We are one of the few lucky ones to play a home World Cup. Australia will make for a cracking competition. Feeling is relaxed because we've played a lot of cricket recently.

We were fresh and trained even when there wasn't any warm-up game. Will try to enjoy the occasion because in a big tournament, you tend to overthink and go beyond the situation. It will be a little hot,” India’s pace spearhead added.

Meanwhile, Australia will have the best seam-bowling attack in their World Cup 2023 opener against India, with Starc, Captain Cummins and Hazlewood ready to fire. In the absence of Marcus Stoinis, Cameron Green and Labuschagne will take care of the part-time duties.

Contrary to what is expected from a Chennai pitch, the batters might hog the limelight during this marquee Sunday clash. With star-studded batting line-ups, fans can expect a flurry of runs on a hot and humid day.

While all eyeballs will fall on the veteran Indian duo of Captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, fans would also fancy watching the likes of David Warner and Steve Smith entertain everyone with their Aussie-style stroke play.

With Australia holding an upper hand in the head-to-head clash against India in Chennai, India would like to launch their CWC campaign with a win over the former five-time winners.

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