Australia will bat first in Indore after making two changes from the XI that lost in Kolkata
Wade dropped for must-win ODI
Australia have dropped wicketkeeper Matthew Wade for their must-win one-day international clash against India in Indore.
Victoria captain Peter Handscomb will take the gloves in Wade’s absence as one of two changes made by the Australians, the other being the return of hard-hitting opener Aaron Finch for Hilton Cartwright.
Steve Smith called correctly at the toss and elected to bat first at Holkar Stadium in front of a sold-out crowd.
While Wade has performed admirably with the gloves in the first two matches, his form with the bat has waned since his breakthrough century against Pakistan in Brisbane last summer.
The left-hander has posted single figures in his last five ODI innings, along with scores of five, four and eight in the recent Test tour of Bangladesh where it was speculated he might’ve been dropped and Handscomb handed the ‘keeping duties.
The return of Finch from a calf injury is a boost for the tourists having lost in Chennai and Kolkata, the first two stops in the five-match series.
Finch’s replacement, Cartwright, managed only a single from each of his first two innings in ODI cricket alongside vice-captain David Warner, who knows just what the returning right-hander brings to the table.
"He's a very good batter, he's played a lot of cricket over the past couple of years, he's got a lot of experience and for us at the top of the order, he brings a lot of aggression," Warner said in the lead-up to the match.
AUSTRALIA XI: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steven Smith (c), Travis Head, Peter Handscomb (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Kane Richardson.
INDIA XI: Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah.
Australia's Qantas Tour of India
Australia ODI squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.
Australia T20 squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Jason Behrendorff, Dan Christian, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa.
India squad (first three ODIs): Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.
ODI Fixtures
September 17: India won by 26 runs (DLS Method)
September 21: India won by 50 runs
September 24: Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore
September 28: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
October 1: VCA Stadium, Nagpur
T20 Fixtures
October 7: JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi
October 10: Barsapara Stadium, Guwahati
October 13: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad