A confident India seek to extend their domination, while a hapless Australia aim for a change of fortunes in the three-match Twenty20 International series, starting on Friday at Ranchi. The hosts won the five-match One-day International series with a 4-1 win to reclaim the number one spot.
A reliable pool of bowlers in both pace and spin department to complement their traditional batting might is what makes Virat Kohli’s side look compact. The rise of Hardik Pandya, along with the guile of the two wrist spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal made life difficult for Australia in the one-day series.
History favours India in T20 cricket as they boast of a 9-3 head-to-head record over the visitors. In the last T20I bilateral series, India completed a 3-0 clean sweep Down Under in January last year and have lost only once out of the five series played between the two nations.
For India, all eyes will be on old warhorse Ashish Nehra, who has been recalled for the T20I series having last donned the national colours against England in February. The 38-year-old’s his death bowling ability will be a welcome mix to the Bhuvneshwar Kumar-Jasprit Bumrah axis.
Nehra has played 26 T20Is and took 34 wickets and still has the world batsmen in awe, something that was seen during the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s campaign in the Indian Premier League. With 222 runs at 55.50 and six wickets in the ODI series, Pandya has established himself as a match-winner.
Pandya along with Kedar Jadhav will be the two key Indian all-rounders while opener Rohit Sharma, the top run-getter in the ODI series (296 runs) lend India firepower and batting depth. Shikhar Dhawan, who had opted out of the ODI series, is back into the setup. KL Rahul has been chosen ahead of Ajinkya Rahane despite the latter slamming four successive ODI fifties. The Karnataka batsman’s return from a shoulder injury has not gone to plan as he did not get a chance in the ODI series.
For Australia, it’s paramount to get back to winning rhythm with the Ashes beckoning in a month’s time. Their supposed over-dependence on Steve Smith and David Warner and the middle order’s failure to capitalise is seen as the reason behind Australia’s recent woes.
Since his outstanding tour of India in February and March, Smith has managed just 347 runs at 34.70 in 10 ODIs. With an unreliable middle order, the onus will be on the opening duo of Warner and Aaron Finch to give them a strong start. Finch scored 250 runs in three innings while Warner made 245 runs from five outings in the just-concluded ODI series.
Uncapped left-arm speedster Jason Behrendorff, along with wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Paine, all-rounders Moises Henriques and Dan Christian are the new additions in Australia’s T20I squad.
With James Pattinson ruled out for the Ashes, Behrendorff will be closely monitored in the T20I series. He, along with Nathan Coulter-Nile – the leading wicket-taker in the ODI series – form Australia’s pace battery. Behrendorff maintained that the “morale” of the side is good despite ODI series humbling. “We speak a lot about having a good attitude at training and games. We are doing everything we can to remain positive. That’s a big part for the new guys coming into the group. We need to keep the ground buzzing,” the rookie pacer said.
Squads
India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Axar Patel.
Australia: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Jason Behrendorff, Dan Christian, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine (wk), Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa.
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