IND vs AUS 2023: 3 player battles to watch out for in 1st ODI

India will host Australia for a three-match ODI series with the first match to be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday, March 17. Australia have just lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2023 2-1 and will be wanting to end the tour on a high with a potential series win.

Although India won the previous ODI series between these two nations back in 2020, the visitors have great memories from the Wankhede Stadium. Hundreds from openers Aaron Finch and David Warner ensured that the Aussies thumped the hosts by 10 wickets in their last ODI at the venue.

India will also be without the services of captain Rohit Sharma for the game at the Wankhede due to personal reasons, and Hardik Pandya will play his first ODI as captain. The hosts will certainly know that they have some match-ups that go in their favor and also some that go against them.

On that note, let's take a look at three such match-ups that could potentially decide the result of the game:

#3 David Warner vs Mohammed Siraj

Siraj vs Warner - always a battle to watch out for 🤩

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Mohammed Siraj's sensational performances over the past 12 months in ODIs have rightfully earned him the No.1 ranking among bowlers. He hasn't bowled to Warner in ODIs yet but has dismissed the southpaw twice in Tests.

Siraj caused Warner enough problems in the Delhi Test of BGT 2023, where the latter was hit on the elbow and also on the helmet. The blows left such an impact that Warner had to be substituted due to a concussion and also ended up being ruled out of the remaining Test series.

However, the legendary Australian opener will also know that he smashed a hundred at the same venue the last time he played against India here, and that could give him some confidence. It will be interesting to see who ends up dominating the other in this match-up as Siraj will be steaming in with the new ball.

#2 Shubman Gill vs Mitchell Starc

Shubman Gill is the official owner of Starc 🔥 https://t.co/8Fh76YXWXM

Shubman Gill has been in incredible form of late and it will certainly be difficult for the Aussies to keep the Indian opener at bay. Having smashed hundreds across formats already this year, another factor that goes Gill's way is that he has dominated Mitchell Starc in Tests.

Be it at the Gabba a couple of years ago or in Ahmedabad last week, Gill showed that he was unfazed by the reputation of the left-arm pacer and has scored 130 runs in 140 balls, the most runs scored against Starc without getting dismissed even once in Tests.

Yet, ODI cricket is arguably the format that suits Starc the most and if he gets to swing that new ball into Gill, he may cause the opener a lot of problems. With both likely to go hard at each other, this could be an interesting battle.

#1 Virat Kohli vs Adam Zampa

Kohli vs. Zampa in T20s: 104 runs in 79 balls, AVG of 34.6, SR 131.64

Kohli vs. Zampa in ODIs: 214 runs in 193 balls, AVG of 42.8, SR 110.9

Yes, Zampa has dismissed Kohli 8 times in international cricket but isn't as one-sided as people think.

Arguably this had to be a top player-battle from the first ODI due to the success that the duo have had over each other in white-ball cricket. Virat Kohli has scored a hundred across formats in the past six months and is enjoying a return to some vintage form.

This will ring alarm bells for Australia, but they will know they have an able weapon in leg-spinner Adam Zampa. Kohli has scored a staggering 214 runs off 193 deliveries from Zampa in ODIs, but the latter has also dismissed the former Indian captain five times.

This stat suggests that both will be keen to get the bragging rights in the first ODI and that makes it an intriguing contest to look forward to.