Five matches remain for India and Australia to identify a pool of players for the World Cup. Both the teams look fairly settled, but this upcoming ODI series could help them nail down players for specific spots. Australia will be on a high after the win in the T20I series, but with Virat Kohli at the helm, India would want to restore their dominance on home soil.
The venue of the first ODI is Hyderabad, a place where Australia have won both the encounters with India so far. Having said this, India have been a dominant force on home soil for over a year Out of the 7 matches played against Australia in India, Virat Kohli's men have won 6. They were the winners in 2017-18 when they won the five-match series 4-1 and then clinched the 3-match series 2-1 last year.
Prolific Rohit-Dhawan combination
India's success in ODI cricket is largely because of the prolific nature of their top order. Openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan are now on the cusp of a remarkable record. When they walk out to face the new ball in Hyderabad, they will be needing 77 runs to complete 1000 runs as an opening pair. If they do reach to this feat, they will be only the second pair to amass 1000 runs as an opening pair in ODIs after West Indies' Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes.
Rohit's form against Australia has been a rampant one. The right-hander has scored 1778 runs in 31 ODIs against the Aussies which is by far his best performance against any opponent. Also, his conversion rate reads 58.33 which is the best against any opposition. He has smoked 7 centuries including a double ton and 5 fifties against the Australian bowling attack.
We now turn our focus to MS Dhoni - the man who found his mojo back in Australia during the ODIs. He was the man of the series down under and India would hope, his consistent continues even in this series. The seasoned campaigner currently averages 121 this year which underlines his dominance. He needs 92 runs to complete 17,000 runs across formats. He will become the sixth Indian player to reach this feat.
