India and Australia will be clashing swords in the second of the five-match T20I series on Sunday at the Greenfield International Stadium in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram.
The 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup final defeat against Australia is now a thing of the past for the Indian team, who are now focused on the next six months, which will be followed by the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup in the United States of America and West Indies. Their preparation started with this series where they got off to a winning start.
Led by Suryakumar Yadav, India won the first T20I in a thrilling manner – by just 2 wickets and in the last ball. They will now aim to get a 2-0 lead, but at the other end, Australia will not leave any stone unturned to restore parity in the series.
What has happened so far?
The first match of the series saw India securing a hard-fought two-wicket win. Bowling first, the Indian bowlers were not really in control of their line and length, as they ended up conceding 208 runs. For Australia, Josh Inglis was the best batter as he scored a century, while Steve Smith scored a half-century.
Then the start with the bat was also poor for the Indian team, who lost both openers inside just three overs, with only 22 runs on board. Two brilliant half-centuries from Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav brought them back in the hunt.
The job was still not over, as India’s tail-enders failed to produce the goods for the team and the entire responsibility was on Rinku Singh’s shoulders. But the left-handed batter did not let the nation down, playing an unbeaten innings of 22 runs in 14 deliveries to get his team over the line.
From the grand scheme of things, India’s T20I setup has been doing well in recent times. If we go back a few months, we will recollect how they won the gold medal at the Asian Games and also won the two-game series against Ireland.
On the other hand, Australia defeated South Africa 3-0 in their own den with all-round performances under the leadership of Mitchell Marsh benefitting the Kangaroos.
Head to Head Record
While Australia has a superior head-to-head record against India in ODI cricket, the scenario is exactly the opposite in this format. India and Australia have met 27 times in T20I cricket, with the men in blue winning 16 of those games. The Kangaroos have been on the winning side on 10 occasions, while one game did not produce a winner.
India has won all of the last three matches against Australia, including the last win in Visakhapatnam. The Aussies’ previous T20I win over India was at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali, way back in September 2022.
Key Players
Suryakumar Yadav (India): Suryakumar Yadav found himself as the focal point of trolls and ridicule after the World Cup final defeat because he scored just 18 runs in 18 deliveries in that fixture. But if we keep his ODI struggles aside, we will find Yadav has been the most consistent batter in T20I cricket – not just in India, but in the world.
Suryakumar Yadav has shown why he is the No.1 ranked batter in T20I cricket
He has consistently shown why he is currently ranked No.1 in ICC’s men’s T20I batters’ rankings, and the last win in Visakhapatnam was one of those days. Coming out to bat when his team was struggling at 22/2 while chasing 209 runs, Yadav scored 80 runs in just 42 deliveries, smashing 9 fours and 4 sixes in the process.
Glenn Maxwell (Australia): Because he played in the World Cup final, Glenn Maxwell was justifiably rested for the first T20I. But now, he and his teammates from that historic win are all likely to be back to bolster the Australian squad, who will do all they can to avoid a double disadvantage.
Maxwell showed his class recently by scoring a double century against Afghanistan, but he is twice as dangerous in T20Is than he is in ODIs. In only 98 games, he has scored 2159 runs, with a mind-boggling strike rate of over 150. Interestingly, he has also picked up 39 wickets and can prove to be a handful on the Thiruvananthapuram wicket.
Predicted XIs
India: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav ©, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Prasidh Krishna/Avesh Khan.
Australia: Matthew Short, Steven Smith, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade © (wk), Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Jason Behrendorff, Tanveer Sangha.
Prediction
Australia is completely alien to the conditions at the Greenfield Stadium which has only hosted three T20Is so far with one of them becoming an 8-over per side contest after being curtailed by rain.
On the other hand, India’s young blood is fresh and thriving off the opportunities currently being offered in the national team’s set-up for the shortest format. The likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashaswi Jaiswal would like to put some runs on the board if India bats first on Sunday.