Expect more fireworks from Jaiswal and Co. in Guwahati

If the first two T20Is were high-scoring affairs, the third encounter between India and Australia in Guwahati on Tuesday (November 28) could prove to be even more difficult for the bowlers. The Barsapara Cricket Stadium is known to be a heaven for batters, and Australia, after being out-batted in the first two matches, will have to step up big time if they want to keep the five-match series alive. It’s a now-or-never scenario for Matthew Wade and his men.

Things to watch out for

Jaiswal is a beast in powerplay

When it comes to T20Is, India have always lacked an opener who could go gung-ho in the powerplay, and that has hurt them in the last two T20 World Cups. And that’s where Yashasvi Jaiswal comes into play. The left-handed opener is “fearless”, and in his short 10-match T20I career, the 21-year-old has already instilled fear into the opponent's mind with that approach. 

In the ongoing five-match T20I series against Australia, Jaiswal has slammed 74 runs across two innings at a strike rate of 224.24, giving India a rapid start in both games. He smoked 21 off eight deliveries in the first T20I in Visakhapatnam and followed it up with a match-winning 25-ball 53 in Thiruvananthapuram.

What makes him special is that he scores runs at a great pace in the powerplay, which can often put the opponents on the backfoot. Amongst batters from the top-10 ranked T20I sides who have scored at least 200 runs in the powerplay since 2021, Jaiswal’s strike rate of 175.4 is the best. He also has the best balls/boundary (3.2) in this phase. Even if you remove the year criteria, Jaiswal still has the best strike rate and balls/boundary ratio.

Also read - Yashasvi Jaiswal is the T20I opener India desperately need

It’s a bit too early to compare, but all the signs suggest that he is the most aggressive opener India have seen in the 20-over format. Just look at how he starts. In his first 10 deliveries of an innings, Jaiswal has a strike rate of 158.8. The second best (minimum five innings) is Virender Sehwag - 134. What’s more, he is going to enjoy the conditions that will be on offer in Guwahati, and if he can occupy the crease for five to six overs, Jaiswal could once again make Australia pay. 

Arshdeep continues to leak runs

1/87 in eight overs - this is what Arshdeep Singh has done in the first two matches of this series. The left-arm seamer has been very mediocre in 2023, especially after the powerplay. Arshdeep has operated at an economy of 7 in the first six overs but has a strike rate of 22.5, which is not even one wicket per match in that particular phase. 

Post powerplay, he has leaked runs at an economy of 11.2, which is clearly the worst amongst bowlers from the top-10 ranked sides who have bowled at least 20 overs in the last two phases (middle and death) phases of the innings. Arshdeep also has the worst balls/boundary (4.3) in this period. 

It won’t be too long before Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj return to the T20I set-up and if Arshdeep keeps performing the way he has been performing this year, the 24-year-old could struggle to keep his place in the team.

Ground details and conditions

The Barsapara Cricket Stadium hosted a T20I in 2022 and a total of 458 runs were scored across two innings, that too at the expense of just six wickets. After India amassed 237/3 in the first innings, South Africa got 221/3. Even in the last edition of the Indian Premier League, Guwahati witnessed three 190-plus totals in four innings. 

These numbers should be enough to tell you that the conditions will be phenomenal for batting. Spinners here have slightly better numbers than seamers in these three matches. They have operated at an average of 36.3 and an economy rate of 8.7, while the corresponding numbers for fast bowlers are 45.9 and 10.5 respectively. 

We have already witnessed four 190-plus totals in this series, and this game could also go in the same direction. 

Tactical insights

- It will be interesting to see if Matthew Short retains his spot or not, but if he does, Ravi Bishnoi should be used against him straightaway. The leggie has dismissed him twice in this series and that too in the space of just five deliveries. In T20s since 2022, Short has been dismissed by a leg-spinner 14 times in 18 innings. He has an average of 8.1 and a strike rate of 108.7 against them.

- Ishan Kishan has two fifties in this series but struggled against Jason Behrendorff in the first T20I, scoring only four runs off his 11 deliveries. The left-arm seamer didn’t feature in the second T20I and that worked in Kishan’s favour. The left-handed batter has an average of 19.6 and a strike rate of 118.1 against left-arm pace this year. 

Probable XIs

The Men in Blue could bring in Avesh Khan instead of Arshdeep or Prasidh Krishna who have been very expensive in the first two games.

India - Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, (two out of) Arshdeep Singh/Prasidh Krishna/Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.

Steven Smith and Adam Zampa have flown back to Australia, and they will be joined by Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis and Sean Abbott, who will be returning home tomorrow. Ben McDermott and Josh Philippe are already with the squad, while Ben Dwarshuis and Chris Green will link up with the squad ahead of the fourth T20I.

Australia - Matthew Short, Travis Head, Josh Philippe, Ben McDermott, Tim David, Matthew Wade (c & wk), Aaron Hardie, Kane Richardson, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Ellis, Tanveer Sangha.