IND v AUS, 3rd ODI: India's predicted playing XI
The Indian cricket team will have done some soul-searching in time for the third ODI against Australia.
A change in venue might come as a breath of fresh air for the visitors, and should hopefully exorcise the ghosts of Steve Smith's metronomical, twin 62-ball hundreds.
The ground they move to, the Manuka Oval in Canberra, has been rarely used for international cricket. The last ODI played here, way back in 2016, saw Australia pummel New Zealand by 116 runs - not exactly comforting news for India, who come off two heavy defeats.
The Man of the Match from that game, David Warner, has been ruled out of the series, but given the consistent contributions for Australia throughout their batting order, the visitors still have much to sweat about.
Indian fans will be hoping Virat Kohli's captaincy perks up, with respect to field placements, bowling changes and assessment of the game situation. Winning the toss for once wouldn't hurt much either. With this being dead rubber, expect a host of changes in the playing XI.
Here is the predicted playing XI for the third India vs Australia ODI on 2nd December.
Openers: Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan
With two fifty-run opening partnerships squandered in two games, India would be looking for a change. The Men in Blue's partnerships at the top of the order have paled in comparison to Australia's burgeoning opening stands of over a hundred in both games.
With Shikhar Dhawan having persevered to make a fifty in the first game and recent IPL form suggesting that runs are most likely to come from his blade, expect him to keep his place.
India would be more than keen to swap Mayank Agarwal with the young Shubman Gill, who scored roughly the same runs in the IPL albeit at a more sedate pace. The team management would hope for an opener who is reluctant to throw his wicket away, and Gill might just tick that box to get his fledgling international career underway.
There could be an unorthodox choice taken here as well, in case Mayank is being given a longer rope to prove himself in this format.