Australia has suffered another blow as Sophie Molineux has been ruled out of the remaining matches in the multi-format series against India due to injury. The all-rounder is currently suffering from lower back pain, which will keep her out of the last two ODIs and the one-off Test. This is a major setback for the team, especially when other important players are already ruled out, which is testing the squad depth of Australia in the ongoing series.

 

Molineux Ruled Out with Back Injury; Carey Called Up as Australia Face Fresh Concerns

 

Lower back pain has forced Sophie Molineux to miss the last two ODIs and the one-off Test at the WACA. She is set to take over as captain across formats once Alyssa Healy retires.

 

Allrounder Nicola Carey has been added to the squad, which is the only change Australia has made to the team that won the first ODI by six wickets.

 

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On the other hand, Ellyse Perry and Kim Garth had already been ruled out of the ODI series due to quad injuries, and their availability for the Test to follow is yet to be confirmed.

 

Harmanpreet Returns as India Ring in Changes for Second ODI

 

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur has shaken off the leg niggle that kept her out of the match during the Australian innings in the first ODI. She won the toss again and decided to bat under bright conditions, with the wicket at Bellerive Oval likely to be favorable for batting.

 

Left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma is likely to make her ODI debut after five T20Is. Seam-bowling allrounder Amanjot Kaur has also been picked in the playing eleven. They replace Shafali Verma and fast bowler Renuka Singh, who have been given a rest.

 

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  Australia Level Series as India Eye Historic ODI Breakthrough

 

Having lost the T20I series 2-1, Australia made a great comeback on Tuesday as they won convincingly at Allan Border Field. This win was an excellent beginning to Alyssa Healy’s farewell series and has resulted in the series being tied at four points each.

 

Both sides will be resuming action in the 50-over format for the first time since the World Cup last year, where India shocked Australia in the semi-final on their way to a historic victory at home.

 

India will be looking to win this match and keep their hopes alive of winning their first-ever ODI series against Australia. The weather in Hobart is expected to be clear, with the series-deciding ODI also scheduled to take place in the capital of Tasmania on Sunday.

 

Team Analysis

 

Australia:

 

1 Alyssa Healy, 2 Phoebe Litchfield, 3 Georgia Voll, 4 Beth Mooney (wk), 5 Annabel Sutherland, 6 Ashleigh Gardner, 7 Tahlia McGrath, 8 Nicola Carey, 9 Alana King, 10 Megan Schutt, 11 Darcie Brown

 

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  India: 

 

1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Pratika Rawal, 3 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 4 Jemimah Rodrigues, 5 Amanjot Kaur, 6 Richa Ghosh (wk), 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Kashvee Gautam, 9 Sree Charani, 10 Kranti Gaud, 11 Vaishnavi Sharma

 

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