Need to get India’s top three early: Aaron Finch

After a rather indifferent outing in the Test series, Australia are now scheduled to play three ODIs against India, the first of which will be played tomorrow at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). The Aussies had a lacklustre year in 2018 having won only a couple of matches in the 50-overs format and they would be keen to get their combinations right, especially with the World Cup coming closer.

Meanwhile, the hosts have put forth their playing eleven for the opening contest. They had to make some last-minute changes as Mitchell Marsh was hospitalised due to gastric issues. Prior to the match, Aaron Finch, the Aussie skipper, admitted that it’s difficult to get rid of India’s top three, comprising of Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma. Finch also talked about getting them out early.

The top three are very important

“Over the last 12 months Virat’s averaged 133, Shikhar 75, and Rohit 50; so there’s a lot of runs and balls faced from their top three. It’s important to get them as early as you can because once they get in, they score fast and they don’t seem to get out too easily,” Finch was quoted as saying in the pre-match press conference in Sydney.

“Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, Dhoni these guys that can all play their part as well. The top three are very important but you can’t just look at that otherwise there’s someone else that will catch you off-guard and get the job done as well,” the 32-year-old from Colac, Victoria added.

India are International Cricket Council’s (ICC) number-two ranked ODI team and one of the primary reason behind their dominance in the power-packed top-order. Kohli and Rohit ended 2018 as the top two run-scorers, having notched a staggering 1202 and 1030 runs respectively.

Both also racked up 11 centuries together to go with six half-centuries. Dhawan wasn’t far behind either as the left-hander scored 897 runs at an average of 49.83 with three tons and two fifties. India’s fate in the limited-overs series would depend on how the trio steps up and deliver.

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