Australia captain Pat Cummins Sunday won the toss and chose to bat first against the hosts India, as both teams play their opening matches in the ICC World Cup  2023.

In the game being held at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, India will take the field without opener Shubman Gill, who is yet to recover from dengue fever.

Gill will now be replaced by Ishan Kishan, who will open the batting for the team in the first crucial match.

Meanwhile, Australia’s Marcus Stoinis misses out in Chennai for the five-time winners due to a hamstring injury as the Aussies head into their 150th ODI fixture with India.

The stadium was half-full before the first ball but with thousands waiting outside. The match is expected to witness a packed house in contrast to the mostly empty stadiums seen through the tournament so far.

Cummins said injured Travis Head was “on a couch in Adelaide” while Sean Abbott, Josh Inglis and Stoinis had also missed out.

India remain one of the favourites to win the 50-over crown at home and end their world title drought since the 2013 Champions Trophy.

They last won the World Cup in 2011.

Teams

India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Australia: David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

— Additional input by AFP