India-Australia ODI tie today in Mohali, security up

Deepankar Sharda

Mohali, September 21

International cricket is all set to make a comeback at IS Bindra PCA Stadium with India facing Australia, on Friday, in the first of the three-match ODI series here.

The last international match hosted by Mohali was in September 2022, which was also between India and Australia. Meanwhile, on Thursday, both Indian and Australian players attended a practice session at the match venue.

While visitors opted to spend more times on nets, the hosts preferred to opt for fitness drills. Incidentally, both the teams are scheduled to open their World Cup campaign against each other on October 8 in Chennai.

And, this series is termed as the warm-up ahead of the main tournament. The absence of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya didn’t let down the enthusiasm of the cricket buffs. The PCA authorities have made arrangements of shuttle-bus service to ferry fans having specific tickets to the venue. The match is slated to start at 1.30 pm, and the entry gates are expected to open by noon.

On Thursday, the stadium security was fully overtaken by the Punjab Police. At least 15,000 personnel would be on duty for a smooth conduct of the match.

Squads

India: KL Rahul (captain & wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna.

Australia: Pat Cummins (captain), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey (wicket-keeper), Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner and Adam Zampa.