Major threats for India in Australia’s ODI squad — key players who could trouble the visitors in the upcoming series.
The ICC ODI World Cup champions, Australia, will host India in a 3-match ODI series, starting October 19 at Perth. The Mitchell Marsh-led side have selected a side that has a balance between experience and youth, in the absence of the World Cup-winning skipper Pat Cummins.
This tour is expected to be high-octane, given that it will be the first bilateral ODI series between the two sides in over two years. In their last three fixtures in the format, all in ICC tournaments, India have won two, while the solitary Aussie win came in the all-important World Cup final.
While ODIs are played very rarely nowadays, these three games will be significant for both sides in their preparation for the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup. Given its significance, India and Australia have selected the strongest possible squads for this series.
So in this piece, we will see the potential threats for Team India from the squad selected by the Aussies.
Travis Head
Travis Head has been an arch-nemesis for India in the recent past. The left-hander always seems to give his best when playing against the Men in Blue. In the last two ICC final clashes between the sides (WTC 2023 and World Cup 2023), Head scored match-winning centuries in both games. And, in the BGT series that was held late last year, he was the leading run-getter, having accumulated 448 runs in nine innings.
In the ODI format, Head has played 10 innings against India, scoring 384 runs at a strike rate of 103.23. This includes the famous unbeaten 120-ball 137 that he hammered in the ill-fated evening for India at Ahmedabad. Given his track record against India, even though he hasn’t been as consistent this calendar year, Head is a major threat for the Shubman Gill-led team at the top of the order.
Read More: Expectations from India’s new ODI skipper, Shubman Gill
Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood
With Pat Cummins absent, the onus of leading the Aussie pace attack will be on the shoulders of two of their experienced pacers, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood. Both these stalwarts have plenty of experience playing against India in big matches, and they will be a major threat to them in this tour.
Hazlewood has played 11 games against India in this format, taking 17 wickets, including the five scalps he took in the two World Cup games in 2023. On the other hand, Starc has been even more prolific when it comes to playing against India in the white-ball format. The left-armer has taken 30 wickets in 19 games, including two five-wicket hauls.
While the Indian batting contingent is experienced in their own right, they should be wary of the threat these long-time bowling partners bring along with them.
Josh Inglis
Australia do have a seasoned wicket-keeper batter in Alex Carey, but they have also fielded the hitting batter, Josh Inglis, in the middle-order. The reason is his ability to change the course of the game on its head in a span of a few overs. In recent times, Inglis has been in fantastic hitting form in both forms of white-ball cricket.
The right-hander made a stunning 86-ball 120, which sealed a high run-chase win against England in an ICC Champions Trophy match at Lahore, and since 2024, he has batted at a strike rate of over 115, while scoring those 464 runs.
With him likely to come in the middle-overs, India’s bowlers need to find ways to keep him quiet and not allow him to dominate this phase.
Read More: Rohit (1714) & Virat (1710) are the fifth & sixth-highest run-scorers in ODIs from 2023 onwards
Mitchell Marsh
Finally, India will have to overcome the Mitchell Marsh challenge, with the new ball and during the fielding restrictions. The skipper of the Australia team has taken his white-ball game to the next level in recent times.
In the preceding ODI series against South Africa at home, he showed his class by leading from the front, accumulating 206, including a century at Mackay, and followed it up with another match-winning ton (103*) in a T20I game at Bay Oval against New Zealand.
In both those centuries, he took the game completely away from the opposition, and India should see his back as early as possible. Also, India have been one of his favourite opponents, having scored 473 runs at a strike rate of 115.37 with the help of four fifty-plus scores (including a century).
Australia ODI squad: Mitchell Marsh (C), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey (WK), Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (WK), Mitchell Owen, Matt Renshaw, Matthew Short, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa.
Read More: Since 2023, India have struck at SR of 100.26 in PP1 in ODIs, bettered only by Australia (107.05)
