Former Aussie captain Aaron Finch has made a bold prediction about the result of the upcoming three-match ODI series between India and Australia, starting on October 19 in Perth.
India on Saturday announced a strong 15-player squad for the three-match ODI series with Australia, with Shubman Gill to lead the 50-over side for the first time after he was named as the new skipper in place of former captain Rohit Sharma.
The 38-year-old Rohit will be able to provide ample support to Gill after he was also named in the squad for the series, with fellow former captain Virat Kohli also included and in line to make his first international appearance since the ICC Champions Trophy at the start of the year.
Aaron Finch On India vs Australia ODI Series Result
Aaron Finch, who was well known for his exploits against India throughout his career and was part of the Australian side that won the ICC ODI World Cup on home soil in 2015, believes the series will be closely fought, with his former side likely to claim the honours narrowly.
“It will be a great series. It always is against India and I think having Virat back in there brings out the best in him against Australia,” Finch told ICC Digital from Colombo as part of his commentary commitments at the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2025.
“It’s always a great battle when you look at it on paper as it’s very evenly matched, but I’d say Australia (win the series) 2-1. Not confidently though as India are a great side and it will just be a great series to watch,” he added.
Aaron Finch On Shubman Gill’s ODI Captaincy Debut
Aaron Finch is also eager to see how Shubman Gill performs in his first ODI series as captain and believes having Rohit and Kohli alongside him on the field will be a big advantage for the talented 26-year-old cricketer.
“Shubman has already shown what a good leader he is in T20 cricket and Test cricket, so I’m sure this will be no different. He’s a brilliant player, particularly in the white-ball formats and the way that he captained against England in the Test series is just a huge tick in his box to take the next step and take over the Indian leadership right the way through (all three formats),” Finch noted.
“I think when you look back to that England Test series he (Gill) didn’t have many other options that he could turn to for advice, probably when he was out on the ground, but he did a wonderful job himself.
“But I think just having those guys (Rohit and Kohli) there will be a real calmness for him as well, because it’s the ability to bounce ideas, both on and off the field on how you want the team to function going forward, because they’ve been such a huge part of the team for a long period of time,” he added.
India ODI Squad Against Australia: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel, Yashasvi Jaiswal
IND vs AUS ODI Series Schedule:
First ODI: October 19, Perth
Second ODI: October 23, Adelaide
Third ODI: October 25, Sydney