India vs Australia Match Prediction: Who will win today's 2023 World Cup match?
These two teams may have been knocked out in the semi-final stage of the last World Cup, but they come into this one as arguably the two likeliest sides to go all the way.
Australia, record winners of the World Cup, and India, the home side with an eye on setting their ICC tournament hoodoo straight, will commence their respective campaigns on Sunday, October 8 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
India and Australia sparred in a three-match ODI series ahead of the World Cup, but that rubber didn't give either team many ideas about what is to transpire in the opening game of the marquee event. Both sides weren't at full strength and used the assignment as a testing ground more than anything else.
Come Sunday, though, they will be at full intensity. Unfortunately, the circumstances dictate that both India and Australia will be without one of their first-choice openers. While Shubman Gill is technically not ruled out yet, reports suggest that his bout with dengue will prevent him from featuring in Chennai. The Aussies, meanwhile, are without Travis Head.
Can India get off to a winning start in the high-octane home fixture? Or will Australia set the cat among the pigeons with another famous ICC win over the Men in Blue?
World Cup 2023: India look to capitalize on home advantage against dangerous Australia
Chepauk is expected to throw up a spin-friendly pitch, as always. While India can fall back on three quality spinners, Australia will be heavily reliant on Adam Zampa even though Glenn Maxwell proved that he can't be taken lightly in the preceding ODI series.
But can India's batting hold up in Gill's potential absence? Rohit Sharma has been in stellar form and Virat Kohli is known to rise to the big occasion, so the Men in Blue will believe that their top order will be able to contend without their star performer over the last two years.
Australia, meanwhile, have a dicey looking middle order. They need David Warner and Mitchell Marsh to fire on all cylinders in the powerplay and hope that Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj don't wreak havoc with the new ball. If anyone can counter the Indian pace duo, it's Warner and Marsh, as the ODI series displayed.
Spin, as mentioned earlier, is likely to be the difference between the two sides. Zampa is world-class, arguably the best ODI spinner in the world, but he can't do it all by himself. If India are smart, they'll play him out and capitalize on the 30-odd overs of pace the Aussies are bound to rely on.
It would be an absolute sin to count Australia out in any World Cup encounter, but India are the clear favorites for this one. They should be able to get the job done in Chennai.
Prediction: India to win Match 5 of the 2023 World Cup.