Melbourne: Formidable India have their tails up as they head to the gargantuan MCG for the second T20I against Australia here on Friday, thanks to the influx of young talent and the return to form of skipper Suryakumar Yadav.
The likes of Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, and Shivam Dube arrived on Australian shores after having redefined the art of T20 batting with their relentless power-hitting, but the lack of big runs from their captain’s blade has been a bit of dampener for the team in recent times.
Entering the opener of the five-match series under scrutiny, Suryakumar, however, roared back to form with a 24-ball 39, and his humongous 125-metre six off Josh Hazlewood will stay in memory for long.
However, rain had the last word in Canberra as the match was abandoned with India strongly placed at 97 for one after 9.4 overs, and both Suryakumar and Shubman Gill in the mood to decimate the Australian attack.
Rain is also forecast for Friday in Melbourne but, without worrying about what’s beyond their control, the visitors will look to pick up where we they left off in the abandoned series opener.
Going into the second match, what must have gladdened Indian hearts most was the return to form of Suryakumar, as the team continues on its World Cup path with its high-risk, high-reward approach implemented by head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Gambhir wants his team to regularly go for totals in excess of 250, 260, and even if they end up getting bowled out for 120-130 in trying to do that and lose a few matches in the process, he wouldn’t mind.
Their explosive batting in recent months is a clear indication that the batters have embraced Gambhir’s philosophy, months before the T20 World Cup gets underway in India and Sri Lanka, where the ‘Men in Blue’ will look to defend the title they won in the Americas last summer.
India didn’t get to bowl in Canberra but as far as that department is concerned, they boast of Jasprit Bumrah’s class and Varun Chakravarthy’s guile, with the likes of Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel forming a potent attack that can also defend a small total should the batters fail to fire.
They will, nevertheless, have their task cut out against big hitters Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head, who has troubled India in the past.
Australia’s T20 template is pretty similar to the one adopted by the Indian team with focus primarily on playing attacking cricket irrespective of the match situation. In men like Head, Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David and Josh Iglis, they have the personnel to put up big totals or pull off tricky chases.
With pace ace Micthell Starc retiring from T20Is and Pat Cummins recovering from an injury, the bowling looks a bit thin on experience and onus is on Hazlewood to lead the attack that comprises Xavier Bartlett, Matthew Kuhnemann, and Nathan Ellis among others.
Teams (from):
India: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.
Australia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott (games 1-3), Xavier Bartlett, Mahli Beardman (games 3-5), Tim David, , Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood (games 1-2), Glenn Maxwell (games 3-5), Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitchell Owen, Josh Philippe, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis.
Match Starts at 1:45 pm.
