As Australia captain Mitchell Marsh won the toss at the Adelaide Oval, he elected to bowl first against India in the second ODI of the series. Australia currently has a 1-0 lead in the three-match series and have made three changes to their playing XI, whilst India has once again elected to stick with the same XI, despite suffering a crushing loss in the first ODI at Perth.

Australia have replaced Josh Philippe, Matthew Kuhnemann and Nathan Ellis with Alex Carey, Adam Zampa and Xavier Bartlett, respectively. Carey's inclusion brings further depth into the middle order, and experience behind the stumps after a good stint for South Australia in the Sheffield Shield. Zampa bolsters their spin options, and Bartlett takes the place of Ellis whilst adding a little extra pace to the mix.

Australia's pace attack has a big boost with Bartlett, as India look to square the series

The omission of Nathan Ellis raised a few eyebrows, especially given the reasonable pickup he had in Perth – he bowled a couple of brilliant deliveries which had ending Gill's innings, as well as taking 1/29 off five overs. However, Bartlett is in line with the Australian mindset and tactic thinking. Bartlett is renowned for his ability to swing the new ball and working to fuller lengths, both aspects that can translate positively on the Adelaide surface. His tall height and skillset can create an uncomfortable state for the Indian top order, who struggled against pace and bounce in the 1st ODI. 

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Another reason for a change in pace bowling is Australia's rotating squad policy. They have several pacers like Pat Cummins, Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson and Ben Dwarshuis on the recovery from injury, and the management are being conservative  in terms of load management. Ellis is also a member of Australia's T20I squad for the upcoming series against India, therefore he is being managed for the shorter format where his ability will be more viable at the death.

There were no changes to India's playing XI after the loss. The experienced top order of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Shubman Gill are once again expected to set the tone, and keep the side alive in the series. 

With cool conditions and early movement anticipated, Australia's choice to bowl first may pay off. India, on the other hand, will hope to counter early swing and post a competitive score on a ground that is generally a high scoring one.

Playing XIs:
Australia: Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (c), Matthew Short, Matt Renshaw, Alex Carey (wk), Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Xavier Bartlett, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
India: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vc), KL Rahul (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.

On the eve of their T20I series against New Zealand, Australia have copped a major blow, with star all-rounder Glenn Maxwell ruled out with a right wrist fracture sustained in a training session in Mount Maunganui. 

The injury happened in the nets when Maxwell was rolling his arm over to Mitchell Owen, who smashed a ball straight back at Maxwell, hitting him flush on the wrist while the 36-year-old was in extreme pain. Maxwell withdrew from training, where he was later ruled out of the three-match series that commences Wednesday at Bay Oval. 

Teammate Matthew Short, who witnessed the incident, said it was a bad hit. “I just saw it out of the corner of my eye. Owen smoked it, then the aftermath was the ball hit maxi on the wrist. It didn’t sound good,” Short told cricket.com.au. “He’s done injuries before, he was disappointed but he’ll be fine.”

Cricket Australia announced that Maxwell will return home and consult a specialist in the next few days. The indication is he may recover in time for the Big Bash League in December, however his availability for the upcoming T20I series against India later this month, is still very much up in the air.

Another injury in an already injury hit period

With Maxwell unavailable, it only adds to Australia’s concerns, after already losing Josh Inglis with a calf injury, leading to Alex Carey being brought back into the fold. Australia also are without Cameron Green, who has turned his attention to Sheffield Shield cricket, ahead of the Ashes. Pat Cummins has been given some time off due to his ongoing lower back complaints, and Nathan Ellis, who is going to miss a couple of games because he stayed at home as his wife was having their first baby.

In recent years, Maxwell has been on the end of some unfortunate injuries, including a freak leg fracture whilst at a birthday party in 2022 and suffering a concussion after falling from a golf cart during the 2023 World Cup, However, he remained an integral part of Australia’s white ball setup, and had only a few weeks ago, contributed in an important role against South Africa.

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Philippe earns surprise recall

Selectors have named Josh Philippe, the wicketkeeper-batter for the Sydney Sixers, to replace the absent Maxwell. Philippe has not played for Australia since last December and has earned his recall after performing well on the recent Australia A tour of India, where he scored a century in the unofficial Tests.

While Abbotsford is a backup wicketkeeping option along with Carey, Philippe adds depth to the batting group. His international T20 record is not overly impressive to this point–150 runs in 12 innings at an average of 12.5. This series offers Philippe an outstanding chance to resurrect his T20I career and solidify a place for next year’s T20 World Cup.

Updated Australia squad for NZ T20Is

Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Matt Kuhnemann, Mitchell Owen, Josh Philippe, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa