India and Australia have arrived at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground for the final One Day International (ODI) of the series.
The latter’s captain, Mitchell Marsh, won the coin toss and chose bat to first. Winning the toss has played a very important role so far. Whether that turns out to be the case again remains to be seen.
Note that the home side has already won the series after beating the Men in Blue in Perth and Adelaide. This is a dead-rubber game but India should still look to put in a strong performance, get the win, and end things on a positive note.
India vs Australia Playing XIs: Kuldeep Back In
IND – Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj
AUS – Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Matt Short, Matt Renshaw, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
IND vs AUS 3rd ODI: All Eyes On Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli is one of the biggest cricketers in the world and his return to international cricket for this tour had fans buzzing well ahead of the first match.
However, his return has been a nightmare so far, as the stalwart has registered ducks in both games.
Kohli hadn’t played any competitive cricket since the Indian Premier League (IPL) concluded in early June 2025. Additionally, he hadn’t played any sort of international cricket since March 2025.
The lack of proper game time in these months has clearly shown to have had an effect on him, as he would look to open his account in Sydney today.
Rohit Sharma had also struggled in Perth, dismissed of 8 runs, and didn’t have a confident start in Adelaide either. However, he went on to score 73 off 97, establishing a solid partnership with Shreyas Iyer.
