India vs Australia 1st T20I Preview: Australia will start its tour of India with the first T20I scheduled at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy stadium in Visakhapatnam on February 24.
During India’s tour of Australia, the Men-in-Blue finished the T20I series 1-1 and clinched the ODI series 2-1. The touring Aussies would be aiming to reverse the results this time around.
While India will be busy with the annual Indian Premier League T20 tournament before heading to the World Cup in England, the defending 50-over world champions will have another opportunity to hone their skills against Pakistan next month.
When: India vs Australia, 1st T20I, 7 PM Local time
Where: Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam
What to expect: Hot conditions with little chance of rain and a pitch with runs in it.
India vs Australia 1st T20ITeam News:
India: Mayank Markande and Siddarth Kaul have been called up to the squad, but look unlikely to break into the starting XI. India’s main concern will be their middle order. Pant and Rahul both batted ahead of Dinesh Karthik in the nets, and if that’s an indication then India could go in with the duo. Umesh Yadav will be the pace partner for Bumrah, but it remains to be seen if the home team will trust Vijay Shankar with a full quota of four overs. If they do, then their batting goes real deep, with Krunal Pandya and Shankar to bat at seven and eight. If they don’t, then one of Kaul or Markande might get a look in.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), KL Rahul/Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Rishabh Pant, Krunal Pandya, Vijay Shankar, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah
Australia: Aaron Finch said they are still unsure of their team ahead of the opener, opting to wait until the day of the match to decide the final XI. They do have a number of options at the top of the order and will have to work out who to partner Finch with as an opener. Shaun Marsh hasn’t travelled with the team as he is staying back for the birth of his child.
Squad: Aaron Finch( c), Alex Carey, Usman Khawaja, D’Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Pat Cummins, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Peter Handscomb, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Ashton Turner, Adam Zampa
Did you know
Virat Kohli’s 488 runs against Australia is the most by a player against an opponent in T20Is. In Internationals in Vizag, Kohli’s scores read: 118, 117, 99, 65, 167, 81 & 158*.
Rohit Sharma needs two more sixes to claim the record for most sixes in T20Is – currently held by Chris Gayle & Martin Guptill both of whom have hit 103 sixes each.
Jasprit Bumrah needs two more wickets to become the second Indian bowler to reach 50 wickets in T20Is after R Ashwin (52).
What they said
“All the people who are going to be part of the World Cup squad, they have to make sure that their games don’t go too much away from the one-day mould of things. That means we will have to be very wary of the bad habits that might creep in during the IPL.” – Virat Kohli, India captain.
Teams:
India (From): Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli(c), Vijay Shankar, Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni(w), Dinesh Karthik, Krunal Pandya, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Lokesh Rahul, Mayank Markande, Siddarth Kaul
Australia (From): Aaron Finch(c), Alex Carey(w), D Arcy Short, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa, Nathan Lyon, Jason Behrendorff, Usman Khawaja, Ashton Turner
