India will look to sort out their combinations, especially in the middle-order, while giving a final shape to their plans and preparations for the T20 World Cup when a three-match home series against Australia begins in Mohali on Tuesday (September 20). Though a few fast bowlers will be rested over the course of six games before the World Cup – three matches against South Africa to follow after the Australia series – India have a full strength squad at their disposal to finalise combinations. The T20 format is a lot about being flexible but as he mentioned ahead of the first T20, India skipper Rohit Sharma would like to get 'all the answers' from his players before the flagship ICC event in Australia.
Though India did bat well in the Asia Cup, they did resort to a lot of changes during the tournament. Their lack of depth in the bowling department was also exposed but Harshal Patel and Jasprit Bumrah are now back to bolster the attack.
Rohit has made it clear that KL Rahul will be his opening partner in Australia but there is a possibility that Virat Kohli gets to open alongside him. With the star batter scoring a memorable hundred in his last T20 innings, there will always be a temptation to make him bat at the top.
The top-four are pretty much sorted but the jury is still out on the role of wicketkeepers Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik in the playing eleven.
Match Details
Venue: Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali
Date & Time: September 20 at 730 PM IST
Live Streaming and TV details: Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar website and app
Wicketkeeper: Josh Inglis
Batters: KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David
All-rounders: Hardik Pandya, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green
Bowlers: Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Josh Hazlewood
Captain: Virat Kohli
Vice-captain: Hardik Pandya
India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel
Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Steven Smith, Tim David, Glenn Maxwell, Ashton Agar, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Mathew Wade, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa
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