Follow UsCricket literally doesn’t stop for anyone. We had the World Cup final just three days ago between India and Australia, and now we will have a T20I bilateral series between the two finalists. It doesn’t matter that most of the Aussies would be arriving hungover from post-World Cup celebrations. The word ‘rest’ doesn’t exist in the cricket world.
Regarding the squads of both teams, in the absence of regular T20 skipper Hardik Pandya, India will be captained by Suryakumar Yadav, who is back to his favourite format after a lowkey World Cup. Apart from him, only a few others from the World Cup squad have made it to the squad for this five-match T20I series.
Ishan Kishan will be back in the side as the main wicketkeeper, and Prasidh Krishna will join the pace attack. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer will return for the last two matches after being rested for the first three. Coach Rahul Dravid has also opted out of the series, with National Cricket Academy head VVS Laxman substituting for him in the series.
Australia have withheld a larger portion of their World Cup squad. David Warner will miss the series after a long time on the road, and the allrounder Aaron Hardie has been called in to replace him. Kane Richardson has also replaced Spencer Johnson due to an injury. Skipper Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc, Josh Hazelwood, Mitch Marsh, and Cameron Green have also returned to Australia after a long time on the road.
This five-match series is an opportunity for many fringe players on both sides to announce their candidature for the upcoming T20 World Cup, which is hardly seven months away. The scheduling might be a bit crazy, with it being organised only a few days after the World Cup, but it holds a greater significance in terms of prepping for another ICC tournament for both sides.
Things to watch out for
Skipper Surya rises
Suryakumar Yadav might have had an indifferent World Cup, but he’s a behemoth of the T20 format. An average of 46.02 combined with a strike rate of 172.70 keeps him in the class of the best T20 batters of all time. The team management recognises that and has rewarded him with the side's captaincy in Hardik Pandya's absence.
Surya is the number 1 T20 batter in the world, and this time, he’ll be against an opposition that has found a probable weakness in his batting. In Vishakhapatnam, the Aussies can attack him with a lot of back of length or short slow balls, and he might struggle to time his shots due to the lack of pace on the ball. He also averages the least against left-arm pacers amongst all bowling types - 36.3. Australia can use Jason Behrendorff to counter him early into his innings.
Suryakumar has had some captaincy experience in domestic cricket, but it will be the first time he’s captaining India in an entire series, and it remains to be seen how his captaincy will affect his batting tempo.
Can Travis Head create some buzz before the IPL Auction?
Travis Head has been everywhere in cricket recently. Be it the Tests or the ODIs, he has been leading the Australian batting effort from the front. The opportunity is ripe for him to cash on and throw in his hat big time in the IPL Auction, which is scheduled for December 19 - right after the end of this series.
He doesn’t boast a great overall record in T20s, with a below-30 average. But his strike rate is 140, and he recently scored a 91 off just 48 balls in South Africa.
Venue and Conditions
The Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam, has hosted three T20I games, two of which the bowlers have dominated. However, India scored 179 in the first innings in the latest one played last year. With humid and cloudy conditions expected in Vizag tomorrow, you can expect the ball to talk a bit.
Tactical Insights
> Tilak Varma was belligerent when he played in the Asian games in China. His performances in the middle order in the last T20I series he played have almost confirmed his spot in India’s middle order. He attacks the spinners, especially leg and off-spinners, and averages above 60 against both bowling types in T20s. However, his average against right-arm pace is only 28.8. Hence, it would be wise for Australia to keep Adam Zampa and other off-spinners like Maxwell away from him and bowl a lot of Nathan Ellis and Sean Abbott.
> Since the last few years, Matthew Wade has been a prominent member of the Australian side and will captain them in this series. He holds the key for middle and death overs for Australia, and India should look to get him early. He averages the least against left-arm pace (23.2) as he looks to attack them. India can try Arshdeep Singh and look to neutralise the threat he poses.
Probable XIs
Deciding the playing XIs for both sides would be a bit dicey, as many regular options are rested, and many combinations can be formed with the available options. India have a lot of options available at the top, and as a result, Yashasvi Jaiswal might have to sit out. Meanwhile, Jitesh Sharma would find it hard to play as a finisher, with Rinku Singh having performed so well.
For Australia, it can simply be a case of the most sober players playing the game.
India probable XI: Ishan Kishan (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav ( c ), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel/Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan/Mukesh Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh
Australia probable XI: Matt Short/Travis Head, Steve Smith, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis (wk), Matthew Wade ( c ), Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Jason Behrendorff, Tanveer Sangha