The second leg of much-vaunted India's tour of Australia 2020-21 starts on Friday with the first of three T20Is at Manuka Oval, Canberra. India somehow managed to deny the Aussies an ODI series whitewash by winning the third match at the same venue on Wednesday. And now, after two days, they have a new challenge.
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Despite a lacklustre performance in the three-match ODI series, Virat Kohli & Co can hope to turn the tables on the Aussies with a strong performance in the first T20I. After the IPL slugfest in the UAE, this is one format that Indians will be confident of dominating their hosts. And Australia are already without David Warner, probably the most destructive batsman in T20s. Besides the opener, Aaron Finch's side will be without mercurial all-rounders Pat Cummins and Marcus Stoinis. And there are concerns about Mitchell Starc's availability too.
India can field a very strong XI. KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan -- the two top scorers in the IPL -- will be eager to continue their T20 form. In the bowling department, Jasprit Burmah seemed to have found his rhythm in the last ODI, and he will continue to India's attack.
Then, there are Glenn Maxwell, Hardik Pandya, Steven Smith, Ravindra Jadeja, Shreyas Iyer and Kohli himself. Yes, Rohit Sharma will be missed.
Head-to-head: This will be their 21st meeting, with India leading the head-to-head record 11-8. There was one no result. The Aussies have won the last two meetings, both in India. In fact, they have won four in the last six clashes, with one no result. Before that, India had a seven-match winning run.
Match and telecast details
Match: First of three T20Is between Australia and India.
Date: December 4 (Friday), 2020.
Time: 1:40 PM IST/ 07:10 PM local
Venue: Manuka Oval, Canberra, Australia
TV Channels: Sony SIX, Sony TEN 1, Sony TEN 3
Live Streaming: Sony Liv
Likely XIs:
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Matthew Wade, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Moises Henriques, Alex Carey (wk), Ashton Agar, Sean Abbott, AJ Tye, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
India: Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, T Natarajan, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal.
