Run-feast on cards in India-Oz series decider

Australia were in complete control in the first match, but India bounced back strongly in Rajkot.

Bangalore: With the Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch is expected to be a belter, hard and lightly grassed, although no real lateral movement is expected for the quicker bowlers, it may once again a question of who blinks first in the series-deciding India v Australia here on Sunday.

Australia were in complete control in the first match, but India bounced back strongly in Rajkot. Neither team will believe they have the advantage, such is the format of this mini series.

Australia have less to think about going into the game, evidenced by the fact that they have played the same XI in the two matches thus far.

India, however, still have some issues to sort out. Forced changes and tinkering to the top order mean they are less than settled. Add to this the fact that Rohit Sharma is nursing a shoulder niggle from when he dived to stop a boundary in the second ODI and Shikhar Dhawan was pinged in the ribs by Pat Cummins, and there is still room for some last-minute changes.

Both players were being monitored, and with a short turnaround between matches, the decision on the final eleven would only be taken on match morning.

The floating around in the top order, with Virat Kohli dropping down a spot to No. 4, KL Rahul batting in different positions and uncertainty over the lower middle-order has left India vulnerable to collapses, especially against a bowling unit that is as competent and relentless as Australia's.

While days in Bangalore in the lead-up to the match have been warm—an early onset of summer—the evenings have been relatively cool, leading to dew fall around 7pm. While this was not expected to be a major factor, teams were likely to keep this in mind when deciding what to do at the toss.

But the toss is only the beginning, its what takes place later that will matter and in any case if there's a cloud cover as expected the dew will stay away.

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India v Aus, 3rd ODI: Star Sports 1, 13:30

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