If you are a cricket fan who grew up in the 90’s or the early 2000’s, you probably don’t have fond memories of Team India visiting down under against Australia. But considering the recent form, this Team India squad has good chances of getting a victory in all 3 formats of the game against this depleted Australian Squad without the likes of Steve Smith and David Warner.
India have an impressive record against Australia in T20Is, winning the last seven out of the last eight encounters.

From the Indian dug-out:

Team India come into this series after a dominating show against the Windies at Home. Team India has already announced a 12 man list ahead of the first T20 encounter which doesn’t find the names of Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Umesh Yadav and Washington Sundar who were included in the 16 man squad.


The opening combination looks formidable with Rohit Sharma & Shikhar Dhawan who have been in superfluous form. The power packed middle with Virat Kohli, KL Rahul & Rishabh Pant and lethal finishers in Dinesh Karthik & Krunal Pandya at number 6 & 7 provides the team a good blend of aggression and stability, giving the openers the freedom to attack from ball one.

The pace attack would be led by the seasoned campaigners Bhuvneshwar Kumar & Jasprit Bumrah. The inclusion of Khaleel Ahmed gives India that much needed left-handed seamer option.

With Krunal Pandya already in the squad providing a spin option, it'll be an interesting decision to see Team India go with 2 more spinners in Kuldeep Yadav & Y Chahal.

 

 

T20 Form:
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From the Australian dug-out:
4 losses & 1 win from the last 5 games doesn’t give a good impression about this new look Aussie side.
On the contrary, the Kangaroos have had a horrible run in the recent T20Is, losing the solitary T20I against South Africa and getting white-washed 3-0 against Pakistan.

 

A big question would be the opening combination for Australia as they have experimented with 3 opening duos in the last 4 T20Is.

A fiery pack of fast bowlers like Billy Stanlake, Andrew Tye, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile would create problems for the visitors. The inclusion of all-rounders like Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Ashton Agar does give the Aussies some flexibility.

 

It's a good opportunity for the Aussie side to pick up some good form against India and no better opportunity than doing it in front of their home crowd.


T20 Form:
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T20 Squads

Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey (vc, wk), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, D'Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.


India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed.

 

Veteran Aussie pacer Jason Gillespie said “ This is India’s best chance to beat Australia in Australia”.
Only time would tell who wins the war, but the first battle begins today in Brisbane.