Follow UsIt’s yet another toss lost on this tour for team India as the visitors have now lost five in five. And, unsurprisingly, they have been asked to bat first once again, something that’s become Mitchell Marsh’s trademark as captain of Australia.
India were in a strong position at 97/1 in 9.4 overs when the first T20I got abandoned, and the visitors have decided to field an unchanged XI for the second game as well. It means that Arshdeep Singh sits on the bench once again, with Harshit Rana getting the nod over him.
Despite overcast conditions and MCG known to assist seam, the Men in Blue have gone ahead with three spinners in Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav. Australia, meanwhile, have made one change from their end, bringing in Matthew Short in place of Josh Philippe.
After losing the toss, team India skipper Suryakumar Yadav said that he would have batted first even if he’d won the toss. “We are happy to bat first. That is the brand of cricket we want to play,” Suryakumar said, reported Cricbuzz.
It was in 2008 that team India last lost a T20I at MCG, so they would be hoping to keep that streak going.
India XI for second T20I
Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
Australia XI for second T20I
Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Matthew Short, Mitchell Owen, Marcus Stoinis, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood