IND vs AUS: Ashton Turner to draw confidence from last visit

Ashton Turner

A full-strength Australia, with top batsmen David Warner and Steven Smith, along with new find Marnus Labuschagne and backed up by a strong pace battery, are set to test hosts India in the best-of-three ODI series commencing at the Wankhede Stadium today.

Warner and Smith pushed themselves into the Australia's 2019 ICC World Cup squad straightaway after serving their ban for tampering with the ball in South Africa.

Fast men Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Patrick Cummins are all set to reunite in an ODI game for the first time since November last.

Even in the absence of these top players in last March's best-of-five ODI rubber, Australia had fought back from 0-2 to level the rubber at Mohali and then went on to shock India 3-2 in the deciding game at Delhi.

The architect of Australia's series-levelling win at Mohali was Ashton Turner who made his debut in the series opener and then played a blinder, a 43-ball 84 not out, in the fourth game to help his team chase down India's imposing 359.

Turner has not played for Australia since that tour. Asked about his memories of that tour in March last year, the middle-order batsman from Perth said he will draw confidence from that tour. "I had a really enjoyable trip and had some personal success and team success. That is my only experience of ODI cricket so far and the only experience I have to draw from. Historically it has been really tough for touring teams to come here and have success. For us to win that T20 series and then the one-day series [was great]. For me to be able to play a role in getting that one-day series back on track [is memorable]," he said.

Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates