This was our prediction for this past game! Take a time to read it and enjoy it!
What Have the Two Teams Been up to?
This will be the first ODI of a three match series. Since the World Cup in England in 2019, India have played 6 ODIs and 15 T20I matches, while Australia have only played 6 T20I matches. Therefore, when it comes to limited overs cricket, it is probably safe to say that the Australian team will be a bit rusty. From their last 21 limited over matches, India have won 14, lost 4 and had 3 no results. Australia won 5 of their 6 T20I games.
These two sides contested an ODI series on Indian soil at the beginning of 2019 and the visitors, despite India having a 2-0 lead, went on to win the series 3-2, which was the first time India had tasted an ODI series defeat on home soil since 2015. Australia had lost their last six ODI series, so not many cricket pundits had given them a chance of winning.
Australia have put Pakistan and New Zealand to the sword recently in test cricket, but this ODI series against one of the best ODI teams in the world will represent a whole new challenge.
Indian Team News
The likes of Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Rohit Sharma all featured in that lost ODI series at the beginning of 2019, so it is safe to say that they will be looking for some revenge this time around. If Australia are going to stand any chance of picking up another ODI series win on Indian soil then they are going to have to keep Kohli quiet – not an easy thing to do.
He especially loves playing against Australia in ODI cricket. When batting against the Aussies, he has picked up 1727 runs (8 centuries and six half-centuries) at an average of 53.97. However, even if Kohli fails, the likes of Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan can take the game away from the Australians before they have had a chance to compose themselves.
If India bat first and get a big score, the Aussies will have to take risks against the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Kuldeep Yadav.
Australian Team News
Pat Cummins is probably Australia’s main hope of keeping India quiet. He is ranked as the world’s best Test bowler and picked up 31 ODI wickets last year. In the last two T20Is and five ODIs that he has played in India, he has collected 16 wickets at an impressive average of 17.43. He was only one of two fast bowlers (Bumrah being the other one) to pick up more than 10 wickets on the tour. If him and Mitchell Starc play at their best, the Indian batsman might find themselves in a bit of a tussle.
When it comes to the Australian batting department, the Indian bowlers will be eager to get the likes of Aaron Finch, David Warner, and Steve Smith out as quickly as possible. These are three quality batsman who can do serious damage if they spend any length of time out in the middle. The Indian bowlers will also be wary of Marnus Labuschagne as he has been in fantastic form in Test cricket. However, whether he can transfer his form to the shorter format of the game remains to be seen.
This is Our Match Prediction
There are a number of fantastic players on both teams, which will help make for a really exciting series. So, why are we backing India to come out on top in the first game of the series at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai?
Well, we think the fact that Australia have not played a lot of limited overs cricket in the last six months or so will go against them. India, on the other hand, have recently won an ODI series against the West Indies and a T20I series against Sri Lanka, so their players will be in a limited over frame of mind.
Australia have played a lot of test cricket since the World Cup ended in July 2019. They played against England in a 5-match series in August and September, a two-match series against Pakistan in November, and a three-match series against New Zealand in December and January. So, the likes of Warner, Labuschange, Smith, Cummins, and Starc will all have to get used to playing ODI cricket again.
This is why we think that India have the advantage going into this first ODI.