India vs Australia, 3rd ODI Highlights: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Harshit Rana power India to 9-wicket win at the SCG

Mitchell Marsh has brought in the changes here. Not that the Aussies have bowled too badly, but there is not a lot in the wicket to work with. While Nathan Ellis is a bit of an exception, as he was all over the place in his initial couple of overs. The way these two are batting, it is hard to see how Australia is going to pick the next wicket. Marsh has turned to Conolly,, who is the fifth bowling option in this attack. At some point, he has to go back to Ellis, who specializes in his slower ball variations, but will they be of any use today? We have to find out.

Well, Kohli has started aggressively here. It does seem like he is in the mood where he wants to enjoy himself and play some shots. There is just that vibe in the ground where more than the win, most in the ground just want to enjoy the celebration of these players batting together. If both can take India home from without losing a wicket, nothing like it, but it just is a pretty special occasion, those at Sydney Cricket today. Kohli in chase, Rohit at his fluent best, watching them one last time might be a worthy story to tell.

Rohit is batting quite nicely now. In the previous game, he did look a tad bit rusty against the new ball and got into the innings as he spent time in the middle, but today, there is a lot more fluency to his bat swing, and the ball, apart from an odd one, has come pretty nicely onto the bat. An 80 or 100 from Rohit here will not only give him a lot of confidence but also ensure India will take one win going into the T20I series. While one would have loved to see a couple more ODIs to give more insights into where Rohit and Kohli are, it's a shame this is what we got with the modern calendar.

Both the openers, Gill and Rohit, have started cautiously here. The ball is not doing as much similar in the first innings. However, both these bowlers have been in some of the best forms of their careers and are bowling quite magnificently here, and the only way Australia can make a match out of this is by picking up wickets early in the piece. Also, we go back to selections. It was a very interesting call from Australia to drop Bartlett, who has bowled quite superbly in the previous game. Nathan Ellis is a pretty good bowler as well, but Bartlett seems to be more suited for this format of the game.

Both Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill have walked into the middle for India. It is going to be a fascinating chase for India. While getting these runs might be seen as consolation of sorts but not getting them losing this game will set cats among pigeons. Interesting chase, this does stay with us.

Before this Australian tour, Axar Patel appeared on the popular Gujarati comedy show Lavari. He was on stage with a bunch of comics, overly delighted to converse in his mother tongue, at ease in the company of those who let him be the boy from Nadiad, the temple town near Ahmedabad he grew up in. This was the real Axar finally standing up and being himself.

Alternately, he would have the crowd in splits with his sense of humour and in awe of his incredible ability to soak up pressure in tight situations. They all wanted him to talk about Bridgetown, and the 2024 T20 World Cup final, where he scored a game-saving 31-ball 47, after being promoted up the order to avert a 34/3 crisis. (Read more from Sandeep Dwivedi)

Well, it has been an innings that tapered off as it went along for Australia. More than the pitch, it was the lack of ability to construct a coherent ODI innings that was the issue. While Renshaw batted quite beautifully, he had to hold this innings, which he was unable to do, and the collapse was inevitable. As per the Indian bowling, the six bowling options have all chipped in. Although Prasidh was a bit expensive, it was his first game of the tour. India will be happy with the total, and if they apply themselves and have a couple of good partnerships, this should be a comfortable chase. The issue for them will be facing the new ball, which at this venue underlights and swings a lot. Do stay with us, we will be right back after the break.

Prasidh Krishna has picked up the wicket of Nathan Ellis here. It was a fuller one, and Ellis miscued it straight to Rohit Sharma at mid-wicket. Australia has lost eight wickets now. This is a sub-par total from them. Well, once again, it is one of the modern ODI issues that teams are facing, batters who are in need to get a three-digit mark, and today the responsibility to do that was from Matt Renshaw. To be fair to him, it was not an attacking shot that got him out, but actually a shot to take a single.

Well, it was a superb delivery from Kuldeep Yadav. He has imparted nice revelations on the ball, and Mitchell Starc had no clue of the incoming delivery as it took off the leg-stump of the batter. Well, playing with six bowlers did seem like overkill but it seems like it did work out nicely for the Indians today, and whatever Australia will be able to get from here on, India should be able to chase these runs if the top order gets going. Virat Kohli is a chase master and will be in his comfort zone, and will be hoping to get a good score here.

Just when Australia seemed to be getting away with the game, India has managed to find a wicket. Apart from those first 10 overs, India have been dominant in this game. Especially through the middle overs, both Sundar and Axar have bowled quite nicely. As we update, India has managed to pick one more wicket, and it is Sundar who got the wicket of set batter Renshaw. The left-hander came down the track to work the ball on the leg-side and missed it completely, though it looked a 50-50 on the first look umpire gave it out, and when sent upstairs, there were all reds on the ball tracking.

Matt Renshaw is batting nicely here. There has been a certain fluency to his innings, and he has been able to bat at a good strike rate without taking too many risks, which is always a quality of a batter who is at the top of his game. In the previous game, he threw it away, but today he would want to make the most of the start he had and put his name in contention for the Ashes. Opening might not be the slot, but there are also openings in the middle order, which Australia can look to fit him in. Looks a lot more composed than his earlier spell when he made his debut in India back in 2017.

Prasidh has bowled much better lines in this spell so far. Also, it helps him the fact that he is bowling to the new batter in Carey. India would love for Prasidh to pick one more wicket here. He does possess a lethal yorker, does Krishna, and he will be hoping to use it in the middle overs and surprise the batters from time to time. It is important that Prasidh and Rana, who might be playing this format for years to come, hone their skills in the middle overs and look for ways to pick wickets rather than just trying to be defensive.

Matthew Short has fallen here. It was a slog sweep shot from him, which was taken by the square-leg fielder inside the ring. Well, Sundar is the wicket-taker, so both the finger-spinners have got one wicket each. Alex Carey is the new man in, and with two left-handers in the middle, Axar has been taken out of the attack, and Gill turns back to Prasidh, who has just bowled a couple of overs in the powerplay. This has been a pretty good passage for India; they have managed to build pressure and create breakthroughs regularly.

One thing Axar Patel is good at in these middle overs for India is like Ravindra Jadeja, he might not be bowling a 9/10 or 10/10 sort of spell every day, but more often than not, he comes with 7 and 7.5, which allows the captain to control things. Also, the way the current regime is using Axar is quite different from the previous ones. They are letting him bat at five and making the most of his all-round ability. Goes under the radar, does Axar for both franchise and country, but does the job consistently day in and day out.

India has conducted a review here. It was a poor one from them. Kuldeep Yadav tossed one up, and it was the wrong one, which went away from Short, and there seems to be a noise India has heard, and they have sent it upstairs, only to find out there was nothing. It was a poor review from India. As per the bowling changes, they have brought in Axar Patel too into the attack. It is a nice passage for Gill to get a few overs of spin in with two right-handers in the middle; the left-arm spinner and left-arm wrist spinner might be the options to go.

Mohammed Siraj has swapped ends here, and it was sort of a delivery that the Head punishes for a boundary, but he hit it straight to the point fielder. Although Siraj would claim it was a plan but Head would be gutted with that one. India has made a breakthrough here. The way both Head and Marsh were batting, it looked like they were going to set up the foundation for a massive total, but not to be. Matthew Short has walked into the middle. With two right-handers in the middle, we might see the introduction of Axar Patel immediately from one of the ends.

Australia has started well here. The Indians have bowled fuller at times, which the batters ended up driving nicely, as there is not a lot of swing in the air. Although Shubman Gill is one of those captains who likes giving his bowlers longer spells today, it might be an opportunity to use them in short bursts. He has Prasidh Krishna on the side, who will love to have a burst with the ball relatively new here. With him hitting the deck, there might be a bit more on offer. Rana, who is bowling at the moment, just seems a tad bit off his pace and not getting to the crease as rhythmically as we are used to seeing him.

Mohammed Siraj has taken the new ball for India, and it is a maiden over to start the proceedings. Once again, there is a bit of nibble in the air for him, and with the form Siraj has been in recently, he has kept hitting that good length region in and around the off-stump channel, which has troubled Mitchell Marsh. And from the other end, it is Harshit Rana who has got the new ball. Gill has six bowling options today to use. It will be interesting to see how he utilizes his resources. Kuldeep Yadav, especially on this wicket, might be a tricky customer to handle.

"The one thing you know about this square, it is rock hard, and this pitch is really hard. When the pitch is hard, there'll be a few cracks here in SCG. You can see there are cracks running down, vertically down the track, so the quicks will be looking at this, trying to line a few up. And there is some green live grass as well, so that means with these two brand new balls, there should be a little bit of movement. But the one thing about SCG is that the ball goes through nicely, so there's a lot of value for your shots here, which makes it a high-sporting ground. Historically, it's a high-scoring ground. The ball goes through really well. This could be the best batting pitch of the series so far. We are in for a very good contest today."

Lalith Kalidas: Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli team up for their 391st match together across formats, the joint-most for India. They equal Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid who also played 391 matches together between 1996-2012.

We are gonna bat first. Seems like a really nice wicket. It's going to be a beautiful day here at the SCG. The way the young guys stoop up towards the back end, it's great signs for our team. Today's a great opportunity to go 3-0 up in the series. Cooper is a calm character and he played terrifically last game. Nathan Ellis is back in for Xavier Bartlett.

Mitchell Marsh(c), Travis Head, Matthew Short, Matt Renshaw, Alex Carey(w), Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Nathan Ellis, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

“I’m following Harshit Rana a lot, but he does not have a strong delivery. It’s not like he has a solid outswinger or an inswinger. When we speak about Siraj or Bumrah, they have their strengths, such as their yorkers, pace, or slower deliveries. But I can’t figure out what Harshit Rana’s strength is. It’s not like he bowls over 140. Play either one of Rana or Reddy, because both of them can’t play together. Kuldeep Yadav sitting out for this is a clear injustice,” Mohammad Kaif said on his YouTube channel.

The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) pitch, while traditionally batting-friendly, is currently expected to offer a more balanced contest early in the domestic season. Seam bowlers who focus on hitting the hard lengths to extract extra bounce will find assistance, especially with the new ball. As the match progresses, the pitch is known to deteriorate and provide ample grip and turn for spinners, rewarding those who put significant revolutions on the ball, making them a key factor in the later stages of the game.

“He’ll have to get some form pretty quickly. The competition for places is such in India in white-ball cricket, no one is going to relax, whether it’s Virat or Rohit or anyone in the team. It’s not going to be easy; there is competition. He missed out again today; he was a little tentative with his footwork. It doesn’t happen often, his record in one-day cricket is phenomenal, so for him to get two ducks on the trot, he’ll be disappointed.” Shastri said while commentating on Fox Sports during the second ODI.

“I think Shubman’s one of those captains that the more he does it, the better he’s going to get. And a lot of the time with captaining, it’s learning to back your gut feeling or go with your instinct. And he’s got senior players around, and obviously Rohit’s there and Virat’s there to go to if he needs something.”

“I predicted 2-1 Australia, so I don’t mind if India wins this game, one of my predictions, right? But yeah, look, I just hope it’s a really good game of one-day cricket. India won’t want to go home without a win, and like I say, you’re leading into the T20s as well, so a lot of the players will go into that format wanting to take some confidence. I’m hoping it’s a good game,” Michael Clarke said on Beyond23 Cricket Podcast.

Travis Head, Mitch Marsh (c), Matt Short, Matt Renshaw, Alex Carey (wk), Cooper Connolly, Mitch Owen, Mitchell Starc/Jack Edwards, Xavier Bartlett, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

Hello and welcome to our live blog of the third ODI between India and Australia. Although the series is done and dusted, there is plenty to look forward to. The form of Virat Kohli is among the major talking points, and the other thing would be to see if Kuldeep Yadav will get a game or India sticks to the same balance as they have played in this series so far. Do stay with us, it is going to be a super Saturday in Sydney.