AB de Villiers says T20I series against Australia will be tough for India

Former South African captain AB de Villiers said India will have their work cut out in the five-match T20I series against Australia. India is currently the number one T20I team in the ICC rankings but AB said it would be a tough series for Suryakumar Yadav’s team while playing in the Australian conditions.

Australia also has a lot of firepower in its squad, and they would want to make the most of its own conditions. The hosts recently won the ODI series against India by 2-1 as they came up with a collective effort in the first two games

“It’s an away series for India so it won’t be easy for them, as we saw in the ODIs. I know it is a different format but winning that last ODI, maybe that sort of just helped the morale of the T20 team to go, ‘You know what, let’s upset the Aussies in their backyard’. These are the best two teams in T20 at the moment,” AB de Villiers said on his YouTube channel.

The former RCB batter said Team India is reaping the rewards for the Indian Premier League as they have a potent bench strength.

“Team India are really reaping the rewards of the IPL. I think it plays a big role. We see most of the players in the Indian squad feature in the IPL. That is where you get your exposure, your experience, and you get to know some of the best players in the world. I am expecting a highly competitive but also an emotional series. It is an away series for India so maybe the Aussies are slight favorites. But we know India get a lot of support in Australia. That is wonderful to see,” he added.

The former Proteas batter said he would always play an all-rounder at the number eight position. Harshit Rana is expected to play at number eight after he impressed in the ODI series against Australia.

“I would not play a specialized batter at number eight ever. It would always be an all-rounder. You can have a batting all-rounder and a bowling all-rounder. You can play around according to the opposition and the conditions. You can talk about this for ages,” he said.

The first T20I between India and Australia will be played at Canberra on Wednesday.