Australia won the toss and decided to bowl first against India in the first T20I at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam.
Here is what the captains said:
Aaron Finch:
“We will bowl first. It looks like a really nice wicket and I don’t think it is going to change much. Peter Handscomb will make his debut and he will keep wickets too. Short will open the innings for us.”
Virat Kohli:
“We would have wanted to bowl first too. I was switched off and didn’t watch much cricket during my off period. I am ready to go now. There are people who might be the potential contender for our World Cup squad and we want to give them opportunities. KL Rahul will open the innings, Shikhar Dhawan has been rested. Umesh Yadav in place for Bhuuvi. Mayank Markande will play instead of Vijay Shankar.”
Preview:
India will be looking to continue their domination over Australia in recent times when they take them on in the first T20Is. The Men in Blue will be also buoyed by the way they performed on the tour of Australia just a few days ago. Moreover, the numbers are also in India’s favour as they have won 11 out of 19 T20Is they have played against Australia since 2007. Australia, on the other hand, have won only six, with two games being abandoned due to rain. Overall, out of the seven series that India and Australia have played, India have won three, while Australia have managed only one.
The result of the series, however, will be secondary as both the teams will use it as preparation for the World Cup. The T20Is are definitely not the right format for the World Cup in mind but it gives the teams another chance to fine tune their set up.
Teams:
India:
Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul, Virat Kohli(c), Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni(w), Dinesh Karthik, Krunal Pandya, Umesh Yadav, Mayank Markande, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah
Australia:
Aaron Finch(c), D Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Peter Handscomb(w), Ashton Turner, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Jhye Richardson, Jason Behrendorff, Adam Zampa