After taking on each other four days ago in the biggest cricket match of the year, India and Australia will once again go at each other, this time in a T20I game at Vizag on Thursday. The big names will be missing but the cricket fever will continue, albeit not at the same intensity as it was during the World Cup. There is never enough cricket in this country and the immediate series right after the World Cup shows that.
With the 2024 T20 World Cup now the focal point of both of these two teams, these five T20Is will be the stepping stone for India and Australia to build towards the ultimate goal. Suryakumar Yadav will lead India for the first time in T20Is and it will be an honor for him to marshal his troops.
In fact, it wouldn’t be fair to say that the excitement will be less for this game as the T20I format has always thrilled the fans and a full sell-out is expected.
On the other hand, Matthew Wade will lead Australia and he will look to get the best out of his players. Wade has stated that Travis Head can take his team and he might not play in the opening game of the series.
With the big names being rested, it will be a great opportunity for the young players to grab their chances with both hands. All of these Indian players have done a fine job in the IPL and they will be looking to replicate the same at the International level.
Meanwhile, the pitch is expected to be batting-friendly and the batters will look to make it count if they get settled.
Match Prediction: India will enter this contest as favorites against Australia as they will be playing in their own conditions.
Squads:
Australia Squad: Travis Head, Matthew Short, Steven Smith, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade(w/c), Sean Abbott, Adam Zampa, Nathan Ellis, Jason Behrendorff, Tanveer Sangha, Kane Richardson, Aaron Hardie.
India Squad: Ishan Kishan(w), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Mukesh Kumar, Washington Sundar, Avesh Khan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Jitesh Sharma
