India Masters vs Australia Masters Live Score, IML 2025: IND Opt to Bowl First as AUS Faces Must-Win Challenge

India Masters vs Australia Masters Live Score, IML 2025: The first-ever season of the International Masters League is on, with the Indian legends, flying high after matching yesterday's exploits of the men's national team in Dubai with a win over the straggling Australia Masters.

India got off to a flaming start, then sloppy fielding by Naman Ojha as he shelled a thick outside edge from Shane Watson. Meanwhile, the elder sage, Sachin Tendulkar, won the toss and opted to bowl.

The match is being played at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara, with an unbeaten Indian side hoping to propel its momentum against an Australia side yet to win.

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This game is following on from the Indian side's comprehensive victory over the South Africa Masters, in which wrist-spinner Rahul Sharma announced himself by claiming a hat-trick to shatter the Protean top order, which then made for an easy 86-run chase. If there is any one thing the Indian team would probably want going into this game, it would surely be runs from Sachin Tendulkar, who has registered two ducks in the tournament thus far, complemented by one excellent cameo against England before a promise of much more was sadly cut short.

But on two occasions, Australia has lost when defending a 200-plus score: once to the West Indies and the other time to Sri Lanka. The batting has done its work; the bowlers failed them by not defending 217 against Sri Lanka despite having Sangakkara out. The Australians will only know that this is not where they should be on the table and there must certainly be a winning spirit within Shane Watson's experienced side. Now it is all about putting it into practice.

For India, they have lived up to being the strongest team on-paper and rightly taking full advantage of their heavy home odds within this tournament. After a steady start in Navi Mumbai, their strong performance in Vadodara during their first match would be a morale-booster in their effort to prolong this winning streak. Bowling has been their strength against both Sri Lanka and South Africa, whom they crushed in two comfortable wins, while the other contest in which they were a bit expensive.

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Runs will surely be out there for grab courtesy of the flat sixes-ready pitch, and both teams have enough firepower on hand to enact plenty of damage. India were at an unusual loss against South Africa, messing around with the batting order, yet this time around, Gurkirat Singh Mann's role as a quick-scoring anchor at No. 3 means players such as Stuart Binny, Yuvraj Singh, and Yusuf Pathan can set about having fun attacking from the get-go. Toss in class and Powerplay batting from the openers, Tendulkar and Rayudu, and you have a great-looking batting order to confront any attack.

However, certainly while Virat Kohli was scoring runs and setting records in Dubai during the Champions Trophy, there must be a little part of Tendulkar that wants to stay in touch with the happenings and relive those glory days of being the talismanic batter for his team. He has not yet reached this tournament, but it is as big as any game will get in that tournament, against the old enemy in Australia. Will facing them finally wake this giant of cricketing history?

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