IND v AUS 2020: 'If India bat first it will be 70% in their favour, else 55%' - Aakash Chopra predicts the result of the 3rd ODI
Former opener Aakash Chopra has picked Team India as the slight favourites in their clash against Australia in the final ODI of the series.
He made this observation while talking about the players to watch for and the likely result of the encounter in a video shared on his YouTube channel.
Aakash Chopra started by picking Virat Kohli as the first player to watch out for from Team India, and expressed hope that the run-machine is able to smash a long-awaited century.
"You might say that I am a little biased but why should I not be. It has been a long time since Virat Kohli has scored a century. He is consistently scoring runs, so I am going with Kohli, he had shown form in the last match and will also score a century in terms of runs in this match."
The renowned commentator named Shikhar Dhawan as another India player who he expects to deliver the goods with the bat.
"I am expecting Shikhar Dhawan to fire. He is batting well, he is in touch and I am expecting runs from him."
KL Rahul was Aakash Chopra's third pick of an Indian batsman expected to shine in the final ODI, especially if the Kings XI Punjab captain is given the chance to bat at the top of the order.
"If Rahul is made to bat at the top of the order, then I am expecting runs from him as well."
The 43-year-old also believes that Team India will include Kuldeep Yadav in their playing XI and that the left-arm wrist-spinner will be amongst the wickets.
"In terms of bowling, I feel Kuldeep Yadav will play and take wickets as well."
Aakash Chopra considers India to be slight favourites for the 3rd ODI
Aakash Chopra expects India to come up trumps in the final ODI of the series if they manage to bat first and post a score in excess of 325 runs.
"Win the toss, bat first and post a score of 325-340, if India does that, then they will win the match. If they don't do that, I feel this time it will be a 50-50 contest."
While observing that Team India will have greater chances of winning if they bat first, he still considers them slight favourites if they happen to chase a target.
"I think India will win this game. If they bat first, it will be almost like 70% in favour of India and if they bat second, it will be about 55-45 in favour of India. I am going with India, we will finish this series 2-1 and make preparations for the future as well, that's what I feel."
Aakash Chopra signed off by hoping that India will be able to register a consolation win in the final ODI and get better prepared for the upcoming T20I series.
"A 2-1 result is better than 3-0 although you lose the series in both scenarios but when you win one encounter, there will some preparation for the T20s and some of the reputation will also be saved."
The Indian team has struggled to chase mammoth targets in the first two ODIs of the series. They would certainly hope to bat first in the final ODI and put some scoreboard pressure on the in-form Aussie batsmen, who would be missing the services of David Warner due to his groin injury.