India vs Australia, 4th ODI, Bangalore: AUS bat, IND make three changes

Australia skipper Steve Smith won the toss and chose to bat in the fourth ODI against India at the M Chinnaswamy stadium on Thursday. (India vs Australia 4th ODI Live Updates)

Smith’s side has lost 11 out of their last 13 overseas ODIs and they made two changes. Matthew Wade, who was dropped for the Indore ODI, returned to take up the wicketkeeping duties in place of Peter Handscomb while Adam Zampa was included in the squad in place of Ashton Agar, who suffered a fractured finger in the previous ODI. (India vs Australia 4th ODI Live Scorecard)

For India, there were three changes as Virat Kohli stressed on the need to rest some of the players. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah were rested and in their place, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav were included. There was one more change with Axar Patel replacing Kuldeep Yadav.

There are chances that rain could play spoilsport in this match. Prior to the game, Bangalore was pounded by rain in the afternoon and evening on Tuesday and Wednesday. The weather forecast for today predicts scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon and the evening.

However, there is hope that the match will not be rained off. The Chinnaswamy stadium has upgraded their drainage system, with the new subsurface aeration system which can help play start within minutes after rain ceases.

Virat Kohli’s Indian cricket team is bidding to win 10 straight ODIs for the first time ever. A win in Bangalore will also seal their No.1 ranking in ODIs. Australia has a poor record in ODIs in Bangalore, losing three out of their four ODIs at this venue.

Playing XI -

India: Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli(c), Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni(w), Axar Patel, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal

Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steven Smith(c), Travis Head, Marcus Stoinis, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade(w), Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa