New Delhi: India take on Australia in the first match of the three-match series in Ranchi on Saturday. Following a 4-1 ODI series win, India will be high on momentum and will look to continue the domination in the shortest format. Currently both teams are low on rankings, India at number five and Australia at […]
New Delhi: India take on Australia in the first match of the three-match series in Ranchi on Saturday. Following a 4-1 ODI series win, India will be high on momentum and will look to continue the domination in the shortest format. Currently both teams are low on rankings, India at number five and Australia at number seven.
But India have something major to play for, albeit it is a tough task on hand. If India win all their six home T20s this season, which include three matches against Australia and three versus New Zealand, then Virat Kohli’s team will jump four spots to be ranked the numero uno T20 outfit.
The last time India and Australia played a three-match T20 series was Down Under when the visitors had a clean sweep earlier last year. Australia have some explosive players in their squad but have not been able to put together the puzzle to get enough wins in their bag as a T20 team.
India on the other hand do not play as much T20 cricket as they should to not only get enough wins in their bag but also find the ideal team that they would want to have which they can only possess if they have enough exposure.
India squad:
Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Axar Patel, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal
Australia squad:
Steve Smith (captain), David Warner (vice-captain), Jason Behrendorff, Dan Christian, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine (wicketkeeper), Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Moises Henriques