India opt to bowl; Shankar makes his debut, Jadhav, Chahal get first game of series

India vs Australia 3rd ODI: The rain before the start of play might have been the reason for the change of tactics from the captains.

India won the toss and opted to bowl first in the series-deciding third ODI against Australia at Melbourne on Friday. The rain before the start of play might have been the reason for the change of tactics from the captains. "It's quite overcast. It's going to be stop-start, with the rain around, and as a batsman, we are never in, so that's the idea. We've had a good tour and we want to finish on a high," said Indian captain Virat Kohli. Tamil Nadu all-rounder Vijay Shankar made his debut. He replaced Mohammed Siraj. Shankar has represented India in 5 T20Is after making his debut in the Nidahas Trophy T20 tri-series in Sri Lanka last year. Always considered as a back-up option for India's first-choice all-rounder Hardik Pandya, it is a golden opportunity for Shankar to get out from his shadow and stake a claim for himself in the Indian limited overs side. Shankar is not the only change India have made from the last XI that played in Adelaide. Kedar Jadhav and Yuzvendra Chahal have been given their first games of the series. Jadhav in a rather surprising move replaced Ambati Rayudu. While Chahal's inclusion had more to do with giving the leggie a bit of game time in place of the preferred wrist spinner Kuldeep. Australia, on the other hand, have made two changes. Jason Beherendorff who was ruled out because of a back injury has been replaced by Billy Stanlake while Nathan Lyon - after going wicketless in the series - made way for leg spinner Adam Zampa. "I would've bowled first too. There might be a touch of moisture but it's still a good surface. It might be slow to start with, but it won't change too much during the course of the game," said Australian captain Aaron Finch. Australia (Playing XI): Alex Carey(w), Aaron Finch(c), Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Billy Stanlake, Peter Siddle, Adam Zampa India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), MS Dhoni(w), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal