Prasidh replaces rested Bumrah; Johnson to debut as Smith-captained Australia win toss, elect to bowl against India

Indore, Sep 24 (IANS) Pacer Prasidh Krishna comes into India’s playing eleven in place of a rested Jasprit Bumrah as Steven Smith-captained Australia won the toss and elected to bowl first in the second ODI here at Holkar Stadium on Sunday.

India are leading three-game series 1-0, having won the opening match in Mohali by five wickets. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in an update that Bumrah did not travel with the team to Indore for Sunday’s match as he has gone to visit his family and was given a short break by the team management.

In place of Bumrah, who will now join the team for the final ODI in Rajkot, fast-bowler Mukesh Kumar has been added to the Indian team as his replacement in Indore. But in the playing eleven, a chance has been given to Prasidh, who made his ODI comeback in the Asia Cup Super Four match against Bangladesh in Colombo earlier this month.

“We would have bowled first as well considering the size of the ground. Good wicket, good challenge to put runs on the board. Good for all our batters to spend some time in the middle,” said stand-in captain KL Rahul.

Australia, meanwhile, have neither Mitchell Marsh, nor regular captain Pat Cummins, with Smith being the skipper for Sunday’s match in what is another round of experimentation ahead of the World Cup. Johnson, a left-arm fast-bowler, is making his ODI debut as Australia brought back Josh Hazlewood and Alex Carey into the playing eleven.

With ground dimensions being small, one can anticipate a high-scoring game in Indore. “It's pretty warn. Looks a nice wicket, fancy chasing. If it (dew) comes in, it'll help while chasing. We want to win but we also want to try out a different combination,” said Smith.

Playing XIs

India: Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (captain & wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami and Prasidh Krishna

Australia: David Warner, Matthew Short, Steven Smith (captain), Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey (wicketkeeper), Cameron Green, Sean Abbott, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood and Spencer Johnson