India, Australia look to put finishing touch with 2019 World Cup in mind

India will head into the series against Australia on the back of a 4-1 win in the five-match ODI series and a narrow 1-2 defeat in the three T20Is against New Zealand.

Image Credits: Twitter/@ICC

With a few months left to the commencement of 2019 ICC World Cup, the Indian men's cricket team will begin their final limited-overs assignment before the mega event with the first T20I against Australia at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. 

India will be boosted by the return of their star skipper Virat Kohli, who was rested for the last two ODIs and three-match T20I series against New Zealand as a part of the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) workload management. 

While Jasprit Bumrah has also made a comeback in the limited-overs fray, all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been ruled out of entire series against Australia due to lower back stiffness. 

The BCCI has decided not to name any replacement of Pandya in the T20I squad, while Ravindra Jadeja has been called in to replace the former in the 15-member ODI squad.

Pandya's absence will give a great opportunity to Vijay Shankar to strengthen his case for selection in India's World Cup squad. 

Meanwhile, Dinesh Karthik will also have a point to prove to the national selectors in the two-match T20I series after being left out of the subsequent ODIs against Australia.

For Australia, Pat Cummins has been brought back into the squad and he will lead the pace bowling attack along with Nathan Coulter-Nile and Jhye Richardson. 

However, it is to be seen whether Australia will play Adam Zampa as the spinner or opt for experienced Nathan Lyon.

India will head into the limited-overs home series against Australia on the back of a 4-1 win in the five-match ODI series and a narrow 1-2 defeat in the three T20Is against New Zealand. 

However, the Men in Blue-- who have been in their top form in the recent times-- will look to shrug off their recent defeat at the hands of the Black Caps and replicate a similar performance as they displayed against Australia Down Under. 

In January, Kohli's side became the first Indian team ever to clinch bilateral Test series and ODI series win in Australia. The visitors sealed the two series by 2-1, while they settled with a 1-1 draw in the T20I series.

Australia, on the other hand, are coming on the back of their recent 2-0 win in the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. The tourists will look to take revenge of their home defeat to India when the two sides head into the upcoming series. 

The two squads are as follows:

India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (v-c), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Krunal Pandya, Vijay Shankar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Sidharth Kaul, Mayank Markande.

Australia: Aaron Finch (c), D'Arcy Short, Pat Cummins, Alex Carey, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Peter Handscomb, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Adam Zampa.