Team India made a crucial tweak to their lineup, bringing back star spinner Kuldeep Yadav for the third and final ODI against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Saturday, October 25. Fast bowler Prasidh Krishna also earned a spot, joining Mohammed Siraj as the second pacer, as India aimed to avoid a whitewash and end the series on a high.
Toss and team updates
India captain Shubman Gill lost the toss for the third consecutive time, allowing Mitchell Marsh’s men to bat first. Australia, having already clinched the series with victories in Perth and Adelaide, opted to chase a 3-0 whitewash.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕. 𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑮𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒔𝒔. “𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔. 𝑯𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒚.”
Australia made just one change, with Nathan Ellis returning in place of Xavier Bartlett, while India dropped Arshdeep Singh and Nitish Kumar Reddy to accommodate Kuldeep Yadav and Prasidh Krishna. This marks the first time in the series that India has fielded a specialist spinner.
Captains’ take on conditions
“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒕,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒉. “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒎. 𝑵𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝑬𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑿𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒕.”
Gill, on the other hand, expressed optimism about the chase, noting the importance of maintaining focus in key moments after the narrow defeat in Adelaide.
AUS vs IND, 3rd ODI — Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (capt), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Australia: Mitchell Marsh (capt), Travis Head, Matthew Short, Matt Renshaw, Alex Carey (wk), Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Nathan Ellis, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
Also Read: AUS vs IND 2025: Former India coach backs Virat Kohli to bounce back in final ODI
