India eye top spot in Nagpur ODI

Nagpur (Maharashtra) [India], Oct. 1 (ANI): India will eye top spot in the ICC ODI Rankings when they take on Australia in the fifth and final match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium on Sunday.

The Men in Blue briefly displaced top-ranked South Africa after winning the third ODI in Kolkata but were back to the second spot after the hosts lost the fourth ODI in Bengaluru.

Going into the final match, both teams still have a lot to play for. A 2-3 scoreline will be crucial for Australia's confidence to carry some positive energy into the T20 International leg of the series and furthermore to the Ashes in November.

India have two series lined up at home, against New Zealand and Sri Lanka, before heading to South Africa, and can test its bench strength.

With the temperatures soaring well above 35 degree Celsius during the day, what impact the sapping heat will have, particularly on bowlers, remains to be seen.

Teams:

India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Axar Patel, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.

Australia: David Warner, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Steven Smith (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade (wk), Peter Handscomb (wk), James Faulkner, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Kane Richardson. (ANI)