Nov 29: Australia vs India, 2nd ODI, Sydney

Pro Tip: Since the game is happening at the same venue as the first ODI, we can expect a similar trend - team batting first having an advantage, top three batters scoring majority of runs and spinners getting wickets, especially while defending scores.

Our XI: David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Steven Smith, KL Rahul, Glenn Maxwell, Yuzvendra Chahal, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Shami, Adam Zampa

Substitutes: Marnus Labuschagne, Pat Cummins, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya

Player availability: Marcus Stoinis might not be available after picking up an injury in the last game. Australia have options in Cameron Green, Moises Henriques, Daniel Sams and Sean Abbott to replace him. We might not always be able to tip you off about late injury (or other relevant) updates, so please finalise your team after the toss.

Captain: Steve Smith

The last four times he has batted against India in ODIs, Smith has recorded scores of 69, 98, 131 and 105. He has the best average (63.25), best strike rate (102.22) and most runs (1012 in 16 innings) against India among players from the top-ten ODI teams. In the last game, he scored his fastest ODI century, also the third fastest by an Australian, in 62 balls.

Vice-captain: Virat Kohli

Kohli didn't get a lot of runs in the first ODI, but looked good. Against Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins in ODIs, Kohli has scored 202 runs from 201 balls and has been dismissed only once. He has an impressive strike rate of 117.56 against Adam Zampa too.

Hot Picks

Shikhar Dhawan: India's second-most prolific left-handed opener after Sourav Ganguly, Dhawan scored a solid 74 from 86 balls in the last game. His last six innings against Australia have been 143, 12, 117, 74, 96 and 74.

David Warner: Another prolific left-handed opener, Warner looked great in his 76-ball 69 in the last game. He hardly fails to score runs at the SCG - he has 870 in 15 innings. Warner has played three bilateral ODI series against India so far and has scored a century in each of them.

Mohammed Shami: No ODI bowler has taken more wickets than Shami since 2019: 53 in 26 matches, averaging two wickets per game. In the last three games against Australia, he has taken ten wickets, including Warner thrice and Smith twice.

Differential Picks

Adam Zampa: Zampa was among the wickets in the last game. If India are chasing again, expect the same kind of performance. He has taken Kohli's wicket five times in nine innings, Hardik Pandya's thrice in four innings and KL Rahul's twice in four innings. He is also the leading wicket-taker in 2020, with 24 wickets in 11 ODIs.

Mayank Agarwal: With Zampa troubling the Indian batters in the last game, Agarwal might be the key, as he is one of the best players against spin in the Indian team. Though he has played just four ODIs, Agarwal has 13 List A hundreds at an average of 47.72 and a strike rate of 100.94.

Alternate Scenarios

Jasprit Bumrah can replace the spinner who bowls first - Yuzvendra Chahal or Zampa.
Agarwal and Marnus Labuschagne are possible swaps.
Similarly, Glenn Maxwell and Pandya can be swapped, depending on which team bats first.