Australia vs India, 1st T20I – Match Preview

After the conclusion of the ODI series between India and Australia, the focus will shift to the shortest format of the game as these two powerhouses will face off each other at the Manuka Oval, Canberra, on Wednesday.

India has adopted an aggressive template in T20Is, and there is no doubt that the visitors will play in the same fashion as they have been doing for some time now.

Indian opener Abhishek Sharma has been the team’s flagbearer as the youngster has delivered with ‘see the ball, hit the ball’ approach. The southpaw has consistently scored at a blistering strike rate of almost 200 and he would look to take the attack to the opposition.

It would be interesting to note what would be India’s combination as Gautam Gambhir has paid special attention to the batting depth across all formats. Kuldeep Yadav had scalped 17 wickets in the Asia Cup and he would consider himself unlucky if he fails to once again break into the team’s playing XI.

On the other hand, an inexperienced Australian ODI team was able to deliver in the three-match series and we can expect the same from the home team.

Head to Head: Matches: 31, Won by Australia: 11, Won by India: 20.

India T20I squad:

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.

Australia T20I squad (first two games): Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitchell Owen, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa.