India dished out a disappointing performance against Australia in the first two ODIs as the Aussies have won the series 2-0 with one game still to play. Australian batsmen lead the show so far in ODI series whilst Indian Bowlers has gone to the hammers with absolutely nothing in the ODI series. However, all is not lost as the T20 series which consists of three T20Is is still another opportunity for India to make amends in white-ball cricket. With the T20 World Cup in less than a year’s time, it will be crucial for the Indian team to find the right combination and stick to it. Here is a look at India’s predicted XI for the T20 series against Australia.
#Openers (Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul)
Shikhar Dhawan was absolutely fantastic in the recently-concluded IPL 2020 season as he finished as the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament. He also showed good form in the ongoing ODI series and will be crucial for India’s chances in the T20I series, especially in the absence of Rohit Sharma.
KL Rahul has been a revealation for India at the top of the order in T20 cricket for the past 12 months and has been in some fiery form. He brought the same form in the IPL 2020 season and ended up as the highest run-scorer in the tournament. He will look to continue with his rich vein of form in the T20I series.
#Middle Order (Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey)
Arguably India’s best batsman across all three formats, Virat Kohli will slot in at his natural No.3 position for India. He seemed to have hit form in the second ODI with a fantastic 89 and will look to come good for India in the shortest format.
Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey will hold their positions too in the middle-order for India as both of them had decent IPL 2020 campaigns with the bat. This will be a testing series for them in order to prove that they are good enough for India in the shortest format, especially with the T20 World Cup coming up.
#All-rounders (Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja)
Hardik Pandya has been the ideal finisher for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2020 season and played a brilliant knock of 90 in the first ODI against Australia. Thus he has proved that he is a good enough batsman to come in at No.6 and finish off the innings for India.
Ravindra Jadeja has also proved that he is a good enough finisher and can be handy with the ball as well. Thus he is likely to be the No.7 batsman and one of the spinners in India’s T20I XI.
#Lower-order (Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal)
Deepak Chahar is returning from a long lay-off due to injury in the Indian team and had a decent IPL 2020 season. His ability to swing the new ball both ways early on will be a great asset to the Men in Blue.
Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah have had a brilliant IPL 2020 season, but looked a bit off-colour in the ongoing ODI series against Australia. They will be keen to bounce back at their best in the T20I series.
Yuzvendra Chahal too is being highly expensive in the ODI series against Australia. But skipper Kohli will still back him to come good in the T20I series against Australia.
