Published: Jan 25, 2016, 11:01 AM (IST)
Edited: Jan 26, 2016, 01:46 PM (IST)
The Adelaide Oval will play host to India and Australia as they lock horns for the first Twenty20 International (T20I) of the three-match series. India have been outplayed in the One-Day International (ODI) series that preceded having been defeated by a crushing 1-4 margin. The series was surely more competitive than the score line suggests, but India’s inability to close games from a position of command may haunt them even more in the shorter format. Australia will seek to dismiss their defeat at Sydney in the fifth ODI as a minor blip by making a winning start to the T20 campaign. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: India vs Australia 2015-16, 1st T20I at Adelaide
India’s make up for the T20I series will be quite different as compared to the one they played in the ODIs. Old-timers like Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra will be back in the squad in an attempt to blend in with the battery of youngsters being groomed. Suresh Raina will be back in the side after missing out on the ODI team and will look to prove his worth as an international limited-overs player. ALSO READ: India will do much better in T20I series against Australia, says Dean Jones
India’s core will largely remain the same with guys like Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Shikhar Dhawan and Ravichandran Ashwin being retained for the 20-over series. There will be plenty of young talent to watch out for.
Jasprit Bumrah, Rishi Dhawan and Gurkeerat Mann Singh who played the ODIs will try to further cement their places with big performances in the shortest format. There will be great focus on allrounder Hardik Pandya who has been absolutely phenomenal in the domestic circuit, particularly in limited-overs cricket.
Australia’s team will be led by Aaron Finch as opposed to Steven Smith. Finch will have the psychological edge over his Indian counterpart with the victories in the ODI series fresh in his mind. He will enjoy the support of senior players like David Warner, Smith and James Faulkner all of whom have been consistent fixtures in the Australian limited-overs setups.
Like India, even Australia have called up an unusual mix of senior players and freshers from the domestic circuit. Shane Watson is the Suresh Raina equivalent of Australia given that both were previously regular fixtures in their respective sides but missed out on the preceding ODIs. He’ll have a lot to prove if and when he gets the chance.
Australia have called back Shaun Tait into the side as well on back of some spectacular bowling performances in the Big Bash League. He will inject some much-needed venom into the Australian bowling attack. They have uncharacteristically missed out on a bowler of real venomous pace and Tait’s presence adds that dimension.
One big blow for Australia is the injury to Glenn Maxwell which rules him out of the first game and causes uncertainty over his availability for the remaining games. Australia have no one to replicate his wide range of unconventional shots which won Australia a tense game in the ODI series at Melbourne.
Australia too have some exciting young talent in their side with the uncapped Travis Head joining other newcomers of the likes of Chris Lynn, Kane Richardson, Andrew Tye, Scott Boland and Cameron Boyce in the side. Apart from them even John Hastings has not played a whole lot of T20I cricket. Off-spinner Nathan Lyon who is an integral cog in the Test team has never played a T20I game earlier.
It will be a very important series for individual player in the series as this serves as a selection pool for the approaching ICC World T20 2016. Australia have the home advantage and the momentum is with them as well, but in terms of sheer experience the Indians leave them far behind. Whether they can use that experience to script a turnaround in the T20Is after the severe beating in the ODIs remains a matter to be answered in due time.
Squads:
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (c&wk), Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Harbhajan Singh, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Steven Smith, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell (ruled out of 1st game), Matthew Wade (wk), James Faulkner, Kane Richardson, Scott Boland, John Hastings, David Warner, Nathan Lyon, Cameron Boyce, Chris Lynn, Shaun Tait, Shane Watson, Travis Head, Andrew Tye
Time: (14:08 IST | 19:08 local | 08:38 GMT)
(Rishad D’Souza, a reporter with CricketCountry, gave up hopes of playing Test cricket after a poor gully-cricket career. He now reports on the sport. You can follow @RDcric on Twitter)
