Last Update on: November 22nd, 2023 at 12:19 pm
India plays Australia in a five-match T20I series starting with the first T20I in Visakhapatnam on November 23. All the matches start from 7 pm IST with the two teams pitted against each other days after India’s World Cup final heartbreak.
Interestingly, India will be led by Suryakumar Yadav in this series with the senior players rested. SKY has received a lot of flak for the way he played in the World Cup final. he scored 18 off 28 balls coming into bat in the final 10 overs of India’s innings. This is SKY’s chance to redeem himself by contributing with the bat against the mighty Aussies.
SKY’s leadership will be tested in this series with him having to manage a group of young players. It’s a relatively inexperienced team with not many players having played more than 10-15 T20Is for India. How he handles the team and handles the pressure will be an interesting observation. SKY is the top-scorer in T20Is in this batting group and has a job at hand with the bat as well.
Every player selected for this series should treat this five-match T20I series as an opportunity to showcase his talent to be in the reckoning for next year’s T20 World Cup. How the bowling group performs without the experienced bowlers will also be an important observation.
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Ruturaj Gaikwad is the vice-captain for the first three games. Shreyas Iyer will take up that role in the last two games. There are a lot of talented players in this squad for the series and now they need to translate that potential into performance. This is how India’s playing Xi might look like for the first game.
India Playing 11 vs Australia – 1st T20I, 2023
Ishan Kishan (WK)
Kishan might open the batting and also don the wicketkeeper’s gloves. He played a few important knocks in the World Cup and needs to bat with responsibility at the top of the order.
Ruturaj Gaikwad
Gaikwad will open the batting with Kishan. He is also the vice-captain for the first three games. He now needs to show consistency at the top for the men in Blue. Gaikwad led India to the gold medal in the Asian Games 2023 beating Afghanistan in the final.
Tilak Varma
The southpaw will slot in at three. He has already scored two fifties in his T20I career in 11 matches. He has batted with responsibility so far in his short career and will need to do the same in this series.
Suryakumar Yadav (C)
SKY will bat at four and also lead the side. He has a job on his hands after the innings he played in the World Cup final. It will be interesting to see how he plays in this series. The skipper is approaching 2000 T20I runs.
Rinku Singh
Rinklu will bat at five. He was the breakout superstar in the last IPL edition making his way into T20I cricket. He is the designated finisher in the side and has shown tremendous skills while batting in the final few overs.
Shivam Dube
Dube will slot in at six as the specialist seam-bowling all-rounder. He too had a good IPL season in 2023 allowing him to make a comeback into India’s T20I squad. He is India’s reply to Australia’s Marcus Stoinis.
Axar Patel
Axar will slot in at seven and is one of the two specialist spinners. The left-arm spinning all-rounder was not a part of India’s World Cup squad due to injury and now has a chance to make an impact. He is 11 shy of 50 T20I wickets.
Washington Sundar / Ravi Bishnoi
Either one of Sundar of Bishnoi will play depending upon the conditions and the opposition. Washington Sundat’s inclusion lengthens India’s batting till 8. Sundar last played for India in the Asian Games 2023 final as did Bishnoi.
Arshdeep Singh
Arshdeeo Singh will lead the pace attack. He too was not included in India’s World Cup squad when many thought he should be an option. He is amongst the quickest to get to 50 T20I wickets.
Prasidh Krishna
Prasidh can be the second Indian semer in the XI. He was with the Indian team as a backup for the last leg of the World Cup. He can swing the new-ball and also has the pace to trouble the Aussie batters.
Avesh Khan
Avesk Khan is the likely third seamer for the first T20I. He has been given another chance to prove his mettle. The pacer has taken 16 wickets in 16 T20Is.
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