India-Australia combined XI
The limited overs cricket in 2016 is all set to kick off as India are touring down under to face the World Champions Australia in five ODIs and 3 T20I series. The stakes for this series is high as both the teams will start their preparation for the 2016 Word T20, which will take place in India in March.Both teams have a lot of inexperienced players in their side and this series could be a platform for them to get their career started. With the likes of David Warner, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Steven Smith, both teams also have plenty of big names to guide the youngsters in the right direction.With both the teams yet to sort out their combinations, let’s take a look at how the combined XI of both these teams (from players picked from the squads for this series) look:
#1 Rohit Sharma
Eight years ago, a young and talented batsman from Mumbai drew a lot of attention with his batting in the 2008 Commonwealth Bank series and everyone considered him as the next big thing in cricket. But, Rohit Sharma failed to live up to the expectations as he kept on failing consistently in the middle order.
But ever since being promoted to open the innings in ODIs, Rohit hasn’t looked back. He has been India’s most consistent opener in the past three years and has averaged above 50 as an opener.
Rohit has tasted success in Australia and the World Champions are his favourite opposition in ODIs as he averages 59 against them with three of his seven tons against the Aussies.
A lot has been expected from Rohit in the upcoming ODI series, as a failure at the top could expose India’s weak middle-order against the accurate Aussie bowlers.