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The JSCA International Stadium Complex will be the setting when India and Australia face off in the first of three T20 matches. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 12:30am (AEDT).
It’s been a tour to forget for Australia. The batting has collapsed repeatedly and a series scoreline of 4-1 for India could well have been a whitewash had the hosts not rested three of their main bowlers during the fourth ODI in Bengaluru.
And Australia will now step into a format they haven’t been known to be good at.
Six editions of the World T20 since the first one in 2007 and Australia are yet to win one. More vitally, they haven’t even reached the semi-final of the 2014 and 2016 tournaments.
In fact since the end of the 2015 World Cup, Australia have played 16 T20I’s and lost nine of them – including a 3-0 loss to India back home in the 2015-16 season. It’s that 3-0 loss that Australia will look at keenly to draw some inspiration.
India were 4-0 down at the hands of Australia in the ODI series that preceded those three T20Is, before winning four successive games – one ODI and three T20 Internationals – to restore some kind of parity on the tour.
Australia will look to aim at a 3-0 whitewash of the Indian side, but even before they start dreaming about that they will need to start off on a confident note and win this opener.
The good news is they have made a few changes to the squad, so many of the players who faced the ignominy of that 4-1 loss are on the flight back home. Instead, the likes of Tim Paine, Jason Behrendorff, Daniel Christian and Andrew Tye take over the reins and therein lies Australia’s chance.
Interestingly, India has resisted the temptation to change too many things around.
There’s no break for Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma, and even MS Dhoni will continue to wicket-keep, even though they have brought in Dinesh Karthik as a stand-in keeper.
Shikhar Dhawan joins the squad after missing out on the ODIs and he will replace Ajinkya Rahane, while the grand old man of Indian cricket Ashish Nehra is back in the squad as well.
Lokesh Rahul didn’t get a chance during the ODI’s but he can be expected to come into the XI in place of either Manish Pandey or Kedar Jadhav while India will continue to test the Aussie resolve against wrist spinners by playing both, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Follow The Roar for live coverage of the first T20 between India and Australia from 12:30am (AEDT).
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