Head-less Australia bat first as India miss Gill

Australia captain Pat Cummins won the toss and chose to bat first at the MA Chidambaram Stadium as his side and hosts India start off their 2023 World Cup campaigns.

The Chepauk, a venue that has witnessed a number of classic games, is set to ink a fresh chapter in the epic rivalry between India and Australia, and provided the weather allows, fans could be in for a banger of a contest that lives up to the Sunday blockbuster billing.

The Australian captain confirmed that there is no Travis Head.

"We'll bat first, looks like a good wicket. Sun is out, good opportunity to bat," he said. Cummins further said that the team is in a good spot considering the number of matches they have played in the last few weeks. Apart from head, Josh Inglis also misses out."

Shubhman Gill misses out for India due to dengue. 
"Unfortunately he (Shubman Gill) didn't recover in time, we waited till today morning and he couldn't recover. Ishan comes in to replace him, he will open the batting," Rohit said at the toss.

"The conditions are there for the bowlers and the ball will turn as the game goes on, you need to understand what line and lengths to bowl and adjust accordingly. We played a lot of cricket before that, we played two good series before the warm-up games, we have covered all bases."

On paper, neither team starts favourites. Sure enough, India defeated a depleted Australian team in the first two matches of the three-match ODI series 10 days ago, but the moment Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Starc returned for the dead-rubber, the Aussies appeared a different team altogether.

Still, India may just hold the edge, albeit by just that much. With their top players back from injuries, the Men in Blue have once again become a force to reckon with, clinching the Asia Cup and reasserting their dominance just before the World Cup. Jasprit Bumrah is making the new ball swing like a frisbee, KL Rahul has found his second coming in the middle order, Shreyas Iyer has scored a century on return and Kuldeep Yadav is riding on a high of a newly rediscovered confidence.

Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Alex Carey(w), Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj