INDIA: India is really struggling to find the right balance in the team. They need to start experimenting and find the right players who fit in as early as possible because the T2O world cup is very close now.
At this juncture, the scenario facing the Indian cricket team is comparable to life: as soon as one hurdle is conquered, a new one presents itself.
India would have believed it was safe to exhale after successfully reorganizing their batting, and their top order began going for boundaries right away. But now, they’ve been experiencing headaches from their death bowling.
33 bowlers have completed 20 or more overs in T20 cricket at the end of January 2022. Harshal Patel (10.45) has the tenth-worst economy rate out of the group. With a 9.54, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is in the middle.
India scored 208 for 6 against Australia in the opening game of the current series, their highest T20I total. Australia needed 55 from the final four overs of their chase, but they won the match with four balls remaining.
There wasn’t much dew, despite the flat Mohali pitch, lightning in the outfield, and small boundaries. In the same way Australia was missing David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, and Marcus Stoinis, Jasprit Bumrah’s skills were unavailable to India.
The Mohali pitch was flat, the outfield was lit up, and the boundaries were small, yet there wasn’t much dew. Australia was without David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, and Marcus Stoinis, just as India was without Jasprit Bumrah’s services.
But if not for this series, India has answers for the T20 World Cup. Half of the issue should be resolved once Bumrah returns. Arshdeep Singh might be used in place of Harshal during the South Africa T20Is even if he isn’t in the team for the Australia series.
Arshdeep comes in third with a death-overs economy of 7.16 on the ranking as mentioned above.
Australia, on the other hand, seems pretty much balanced despite not having their core players David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, and Mitchell Starc.
It pretty much shows why they are the defending champions and have a good chance of retaining it .
After a miserable ODI season this year, Aaron Finch is starting to show signs of regaining his form. In the powerplay, he faced off against Bhuvneshwar, slamming him for 22 off two overs to set the tone.
Other noteworthy accomplishments included Matthew Wade’s undefeated 45 off 21 balls and Steven Smith’s 24-ball 35 while batting at No. 3 for the first time since last October.
In addition to the absence of numerous first-choice players, the visitors will be aiming to win the series in Nagpur itself.
Players to watchout
Jasprit Bumrah- Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been India’s go-to death bowler this year because Bumrah has only participated in three of their 27 T20I games. His performance in recent games has raised questions about this role, though. India was the favourite to win the Super 4 match against Pakistan at the Asia Cup when he was dismissed for 19 in the penultimate over of the chase.
In the 17th and 19th overs of the first T20I against Australia, he let up 15 runs each. Should India try to finsh his overs by the end of the 16th over.
Cameron Green – Cameron Green had never opened in any form of senior cricket prior to this series. But in the first T20I, he hammered four boundaries in the first four balls he faced, and he finished with 61 off 30 balls to win Player of the Match.
Green is not a member of Australia’s T20 World Cup team, but the selectors would know who to contact if a batting spot became available. On Friday, he’ll have another chance to make a stronger case.
Squad Status
India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 KL Rahul, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Hardik Pandya,
6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Axar Patel, 8 Harshal Patel, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Jasprit Bumrah/Umesh Yadav, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal/R Ashwin.
Australia (probable): 1 Aaron Finch (capt), 2 Cameron Green, 3 Steven Smith, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Josh Inglis, 6 Tim David, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Nathan Ellis, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood.
Weather and wicket
At the moment, it is an overcast condition in Nagpur, but weather reports predicted that after 6.00 pm all will be good to go.
According to sources,the wicket is absolutely better and viewers can expect another high scoring Match.
Also Read: India vs Australia In-Depth Match Preview
