Published: Feb 21, 2019, 11:17 AM (IST)
Edited: Feb 21, 2019, 11:17 AM (IST)
India and Australia start their latest series with the first Twenty20 international in Visakhapatnam on Sunday, which if followed by one more T20I and five ODIs.
Virat Kohli returns to lead the Indian team against Aaron Finch‘s Australia, who most recently beat Sri Lanka 2-0 in a Test series.
Here’s a primer on the seven-match series:
Schedule:
February 24: 1st T20I, Visakhapatnam
February 27: 2nd T20I, Bangalore
March 2: 1st ODI, Hyderabad
March 5: 2nd ODI, Nagpur
March 8: 3rd ODI, Ranchi
March 10: 4th ODI, Mohali
March 13: 5th ODI, Delhi
How to watch:
On TV, you can watch the games on the Star Sports Network. These will also be streamed on HotStar. Online, you can follow the games LIVE on CricketCountry.
Squads:
India ODI squad : Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Rishabh Pant, Siddarth Kaul (first two ODIs), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (last three ODIs)
India T20I squad: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Vijay Shankar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Sidharth Kaul, Mayank Markande
Australia squad: Aaron Finch (capt), Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Peter Handscomb, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Turner, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Lyon, Adam Zampa, D’Arcy Short
Players to watch:
Virat Kohli returns to lead India after resting from the last two ODIs and all three T20Is in New Zealand. Kohlis has 39 ODIs, and need ten to level with Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49. What odds he adds a couple in these five ODIs?
Marcus Stoinis is coming off a good BBL season and in November, when India last met Australia in T20Is, helped win a match. His all-round skills have been influential to Australia in limited-overs cricket, and fetched the 29-year-old the ODI Player-of-the-Year award at the recent Australian Cricket Awards.
Jasprit Bumrah is two wickets shy of levelling with R Ashwin’s 52 wickets in T20Is, the most by an India bowler. Refreshed after a long gap from the Tests in Australia, Bumrah slots back as India’s white-ball bowling spearhead.
The last time they met:
Was in January, when India beat Australia 2-1 in Australia. Finch’s team won the series opener by 34 runs but India drew level in Adelaide and then won the series in Melbourne. Before that, the teams shared the T20I series in Australia 1-1.
Form Guide:
India have won six of their eight ODIs this year, while Australia have lost two and won one. In T20Is, India are 1-2 in 2019. Australia have not played this year.
ODI Rankings:
India – 1
Australia – 6
T20I Rankings:
India – 2
Australia – 5
Eye on the World Cup:
Defending champions Australia have ten ODIs lined up before their first World Cup game on June 1, five each versus India and Pakistan. India will not play ODIs after the series with Australia until their World Cup campaign starts.
