2 Changes India need to make in order to win the series decider against Australia at the MCG
Since Hardik Pandya was ruled out due to an injury during the Asia cup last year India has been majorly playing with a bowling combination of three seamers, one frontline spinner, and a bowling all-rounder. Hardik Pandya was about to make his international cricket return during this series but was suspended indefinitely because of his controversial comments outside the cricket field.
Hardik's exclusion has severely dented the team's balance as India had to compromise with their trusted and successful wrist spin combination and drop Yuzvendra Chahal in order to accommodate multidimensional Ravindra Jadeja in the playing XI.
Also with both Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik acquiring Virat Kohli's backing in the meantime meant that returning batsmen Kedar Jadhav had no place in the XI. All these factors led to team India having only 5 bowling options in their XI during the ongoing series. Although Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja have been decent, the fifth bowler has been uneconomical on each occasion as both Khaleel Ahmed and latest debutant Siraj failed to impress the skipper.
Vijay Shankar could be the key
With the third ODI being the series decider India would want to field their best possible team combination in order to win the ODI series. Team India currently has the uncapped medium pace bowling, all-rounder Vijay Shankar in their ranks so it may not be a bad strategy to pick Vijay Shankar in order to attain perfect team balance. In order to slot him in India need to drop either a front line batsman or a frontline bowler. The available options are Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, and Siraj. Any of these four will be unfortunate to miss out but for team's cause, India might have to make two changes in order to attain ideal balance.
Siraj looks promising but has been highly uneconomical in all the 4 international games he had played so far. It may take him some more time for him to get used to International cricket. He predominantly looks like a bowler best suited to play red ball cricket right now rather than white ball cricket. He is most likely to be dropped for the next ODI and in all probability would be replaced by Khaleel Ahmed. India should not revert back by picking Khaleel but should try new combinations which would enhance their bench strength for the upcoming World Cup.
Jadav in, Rayudu out
They need to pick Vijay Shankar as the replacement for Siraj and then replace Ambati Rayudu with Kedar Jadhav in the middle order. This would ensure India will have 6 bowling options and would further strengthen the batting line-up. Kedar Jadhav and Vijay Shankar collectively can be used for completing the fifth bowlers' quota. This team composition also allows veteran MS Dhoni to bat at number 4 position which seems like the ideal position for him right now.
This would allow India to test the all-round capabilities of Vijay Shankar on International platform in order to develop an alternative for the all-rounder's position in the team given the air of uncertainty around Hardik Pandya right now. Also, Virat might be tempted to bring in Yuzvendra Chahal in place of Ravindra Jadeja if Vijay Shankar plays but Jadeja's electric fielding ability along with experience might help him retain his place.
Ideal XI for Third ODI -
Rohit Sharma(VC), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(C), MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, and Mohammed Shami.