India aim to avoid historic clean sweep in final ODI against Aussies

India will look to avoid a clean sweep defeat when they take the field for the third and final ODI against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.

With the hosts sealing the series 2-0 through a narrow two-wicket win in Adelaide, it becomes important for India to get a consolation victory.

With just a day’s gap, there isn’t much time for India to regroup and avoid being clean-swept for the first time since their 2022 tour of South Africa.

Rohit Sharma’s gritty 73 and Shreyas Iyer’s calm 61 offered some resistance, but concerns remain around Virat Kohli’s form, who registered consecutive ducks for the first time in his ODI career.

With both veterans potentially playing their final match on Australian soil, India will hope for the batting stalwarts to sign off from the ODI leg of the trip on a high.

Having fielded an unchanged eleven in the first two games, India may consider changes for the Sydney clash.

Young left-handed opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, and lanky fast bowler Prasidh Krishna are all waiting in the wings and could offer fresh energy to a side that has looked unbalanced in the absence of seam-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

The top-ranked ODI side has now lost back-to-back matches after an eight-game winning streak, and newly-appointed captain Shubman Gill faces selection challenges as he begins shaping his preferred lineup.

Gill also hasn’t been able to set the stage alight with the bat and India will be expecting big runs from his willow. India’s last ODI win at the SCG came in 2016, and with Australia winning the last three encounters at the venue, they have a task on their hands to get the victory.

Australia, meanwhile, will be bolstered by the return of first-choice wicketkeeper Josh Inglis, who has recovered from a calf strain. Marnus Labuschagne has exited the squad to rejoin Queensland for the Sheffield Shield, while left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann and all-rounder Jack Edwards have been added for the final ODI.

Adam Zampa and Alex Carey returned in Adelaide, and the former was the difference between the two teams with his four-fer. Pacer Xavier Bartlett could retain his spot after claiming three wickets, including the key dismissals of Gill and Kohli, in Adelaide. With momentum on their side, Australia will aim to complete a clean sweep and extend their dominance at home.

Meanwhile, Australia have made a number of tweaks to their Twenty20 squad for the upcoming five-match series against India, including recalls for Glenn Maxwell and Ben Dwarshuis, to allow Test contenders to play in the Sheffield Shield before the Ashes.

Test certainty Josh Hazlewood will skip the last three games of the series while fellow fast bowler Sean Abbott, who is among the contenders to fill the spot left open by the likely absence of Pat Cummins for the Ashes opener, will miss the last two.

All-rounder Maxwell, who has been sidelined by a wrist injury, will come in for the last three games while left-arm paceman Dwarshuis will be available for the last two after being ruled out of the ODI series against India with a calf problem.

Uncapped quick Mahli Beardman will also join the squad for the last three games of a series that begins in Canberra next Wednesday before further matches in Melbourne, Hobart, Gold Coast and Brisbane.

In other changes, wicketkeeper Josh Philippe joins the squad as continued cover for Josh Inglis, who is still struggling with the calf problem that ruled him out of the ODI series.

Agencies