India v Australia 2017, 4th ODI – Australia Predicted XI

With the outcome of the series already decided, Australia would be looking forward to salvaging some pride and give a firm reply to the Indians by finishing the ODI leg of their tour on a sweeter note. The 3-0 loss can also be looked at as an opportunity to play freely without any pressure and tentativeness.

It is high time that the middle order responds under pressure and play out of their skins. Although, one has to be skeptical about the chances of a full 100 over game tomorrow looking at the weather forecast for the day. That said, let us look at the predicted XI of the Australian side.

Openers (David Warner, Aaron Finch)

A key member of the Aussie line-up, David Warner, has not been in the best of touches in the ongoing series and an impactful inning from the southpaw remains due. In the three innings he played so far, Warner has amassed only 68 runs. Although he did look in some sort of form in Indore for his 42.

Aaron Finch’s majestic knock of 124 remains the only prominent performance with the bat for the men in yellow in the current series. Finch provided the much-needed spine within the Australian ranks which had been missing from their batting. He would yet again hold the key in the game at Bangalore as he looked a class apart in the previous one.

Middle order (Steve Smith, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell)

Steve Smith has had a good series so far as he smashed 123 runs already in the series with just one failure so far. He picked up a couple of half-centuries already and now would be eying the three-figure mark, setting an example for the frail-looking middle order.

Australia has looked to strengthen their batting with the services of Peter Handscomb in the middle order. Primarily, Handscomb would come out to bat at the number four position, but looking at the situation at Indore, the think tank escalated the likes of Maxwell and Head ahead of Handscomb.

Travis Head has been short of runs this series. He looked in brilliant touch in the Kolkata game for his 39 but only managed scores of four and five in the other matches. Perhaps, the return to his RCB home ground would help Head submit a valuable score for his country.

Yuzvendra Chahal has tormented Glenn Maxwell in the series as he repeatedly dismissed the big-hitting batsman just whenever he begins to up the ante. Chahal has made Maxwell his bunny and the latter would be looking to negotiate with the former in order to put forward a decent contribution in the middle order.

All-rounders (Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins)

The all-rounder department would be handled by Marcus Stoinis and Pat Cummins. Stoinis has been brilliant for Australia with both bat and the ball. His unbeaten knock of 62 at Kolkata caused troubles to the Indian bowlers at the backend of the innings. He then finished the innings off for the Aussies with his 27 in the Indore game.

Also, he gives Smith a cushion of 10 overs where he remains largely economical and also picks up crucial wickets. Pat Cummins as well has been brilliant with the ball and his recent knocks in IPL suggests he can make use of the long handle. Ideally, Australia would hope that it does not come down to Cummins to score runs during the death.

Bowlers (Adam Zampa, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Kane Richardson)

The only expected change in the Australian lineup would be Adam Zampa coming into the side for Ashton Agar who displaced his fingers on the non-bowling hand while fielding in the third ODI match. Adam Zampa then becomes the wicket-taking option for Smith and he would hope he does not face Hardik Pandya at the other end. Nathan Coulter-Nile, Kane Richardson, and Pat Cummins would be handling the new ball.

Richardson, in this series, has exhibited his brilliance with the variety of slower balls in his arsenal. Overall, it is expected that the trio would complete their quota of overs. Zampa should be covering his quota of 10 overs during the middle overs. Stoinis probably would be bowling out the majority of his 10 overs and if necessary, Head and Maxwell would be the part-timers to turn to.