Adelaide: After miserably losing the Test and ODI series in Australia, there isn’t much left for team India to achieve there. But considering the World T-20 Championship 2016 round the corner, the excitement of this 3-T20-Match series is simply not over. For India, the real fight-back has just begun. We already saw a glimpse of it in the fifth and final ODI match held in Sydney a few days back that India won convincingly in the end.
Australia vs India 2016, 1st T20I: Preview, Team News, Live stream and TV Channel Info
With the entry of experienced spin duo, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh, Team India is now much more experienced and strong. Also, the veteran fast bowler, Ashish Nehra is making his comeback to the Indian side which is certainly a good omen. He is someone who knows how to attack a batsman from all sides – using astute line and length with swing.
But India also received a big blow since their batting mainstay Ajinkya Rahane has been ruled out of this match owing to injury. For captain cool, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, it would be indeed a big task to set the batting order right. It is expected that Shikhar Dhawan’s good performance in the recent ODI series against Kangaroo will help him once again don the opener’s role alongside India’s charismatic right-hander Rohit Sharma. Latter’s batting was simply scintillating at the recent 5-ODI series despite India’s defeat 1-4.
Then, Virat Kohli, Raina, Dhoni and Yuvraj will form the core of India’s strong middle order batting line-up. Lots will be expected from Yuvraj Singh’s all-round skills because he is returning to the side after a long time. If Yuvraj lives up to the expectation in this series, then he may straightaway get a berth in World T20 2016 to be played in India shortly.
Nevertheless, Dhoni’s actual challenge will be to make the optimum use of bowlers. According to sources, Harbhajan, Ashwin, Nehra and Bumbrah might get a chance to feature in the 1st T20 along with Umesh Yadav or Bhuvneshwar Kumar. However, captain Dhoni will take the final call only after seeing the pitch tomorrow evening.
Australia also have some considerations before choosing the final XI. It is expected that Captain Aaron Finch, who just took over the captaincy mantle of Australia’s T20 team from Steven Smith, would like his experienced batsmen to click and play some really good cricket. All-rounder Shane Watson is expected to play well with both bat and bowl in the series.
Fast bowler Shaun Tait is returning to the squad after a long 5-year hiatus. He is in excellent form these days and bowled amazingly at the recently concluded Big Bash League. He is certain to make Indian batsman toil hard for each run on the ground. But Australian hard-hitting batsman Glenn Maxwell will not be playing this game due to injury which is certain to affect Australia’s batting down the order. Overall, it is expected to be an exciting contest between India and Australia live from Adelaide.
Expected Playing XI
Australia: Aaron Finch (Captain), Shane Watson, Steven Smith, Matthew Wade (Wicket Keeper), Kane Richardson, Scott Boland, James Faulkner, John Hastings, David Warner, Nathan Lyon and Shaun Tait/ Andrew Tye.
India: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (Captain & WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Umesh Yadav and Gurkeerat Mann/ Bhuvneshwar Kumar/ Ashish Nehra.
Tags: 1st T20I, Adelaide, Australia, Cricket, India, Preview, T20, Team India, Yuvraj Singh
