5 Reasons why Australia will defeat India in the T20I Series

2 years after being whitewashed by India at their home, Australia once again will take to the field against Virat Kohli's men on November 21 at the Gabba in the opening game of the three-match T20I series. Both the teams have announced their squads and Aaron Finch and Virat Kohli will be leading their nations in the bilateral series. In 2016, India won all the three T20Is in Australia but this year the story might be different.

Though India are currently ranked higher than the Aussies in the ICC T20I Rankings, the men in Yellow are the favourites to conquer the Indian team in the T20I series. Here are 5 reasons why India might lose the T20I series to the hosts -

#5 Absence of Practice Matches ahead of the T20Is

India had played Western Australia in a practice match during their last tour

When the Indian team will play Australia, it will take to the field without any match practice ahead of the vital series. Due to the busy schedule of the Indian team, they were not able to play any practice matches ahead of the tour. Though a three-day match is scheduled ahead of the Test series against Cricket Australia XI, that comes after the T20I series.

In 2016, the tour where they clean whitewashed Australia in the T20I series, India had played one practice match against Western Australia before the international games got underway and thus, had match practice ahead of the series against Australia.

After a long home series against Windies, now the Indian players will play in Australia, where the conditions are drastically different. The pitches offer much more help to the pacers than the spin-friendly Indian pitches.

#4 Unavailability of Hardik Pandya and omission of MS Dhoni

Virat Kohli will really miss the services of MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya

Virat Kohli has always been an admirer of fast-bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya and has always wanted him in his playing XI due to the balance he provides. Hardik was also the part of the Indian team when they played their last T20I series in Australia. He has the experience of playing in the Australian grounds something which his replacement may not.

Also, Pandya is one of the few Indian players who could strike the ball right from the first ball of his innings and also play vital innings in the death overs. His wicket-taking abilities helped India take crucial wickets in the middle overs.

However, he is injured currently and not touring Australia along with the Indian squad. Also, MS Dhoni was surprisingly omitted from the Australian series which might be a big loss for Indian side since he brought some much-needed experience to the table along with his extraordinary wicket-keeping skills.

#3 Almost half of the Indian squad has never played an international match in Australia

Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have never played an international match in Australian conditions

If we have a closer look at the Indian T20I squad, you can see that players like Khaleel Ahmed, Y Chahal, S Iyer, Krunal Pandya, R Pant, W Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav have never played an international match in Australia. Though some of the players have played in Australia for India 'A', the pressure of an international match is completely different. These young batsmen will be tested in the bigger grounds of Australia.

While, it would be a great opportunity for the likes of Kuldeep Yadav, K Ahmed and Yuzvendra Chahal to impress the selectors in the T20I series as the next ICC WT20 (though it is 2 years away) is set to be held in Australia. But, in the current series, their inexperience could hurt India's chances of winning.

#2 Unsettled Indian Middle Order

It all relies on these 3 batsmen

The Indian batting order is heavily dependent on the top 3 batsmen Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The trio has been the main pillar of the Indian batting order and one of three needs to bat till the end of the innings to raise India's chances. Even in the recently concluded series against the Windies, the middle order faltered in the first T20I chasing a small total after they lost Dhawan and Rohit early.

Virat Kohli's addition would certainly boost the strengths of the Indian team but if the Australian bowlers dismiss the three batsmen early, it would expose Rishabh Pant, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik and Krunal Pandya. While Pant and Karthik seemed to have locked their positions in the Windies series, the question of whether KL Rahul will get an opportunity or will India go with Manish Pandey remains to be answered.

#1 Presence of multiple match winners in the Australian Squad

Nobody can stop this duo once they get going

The Australian T20 squad has plenty of match-winners in it. Though Aaron Finch has had a poor run of late, he holds the record of the highest individual score in T20Is. Chris Lynn, as we all know can destroy the best bowling attack on the planet with ease on his day while Andrew Tye is one of the best bowlers in the shortest format of the game.

Tye had troubled almost all the world class batsmen in the Indian Premier League in 2018 and has the best knuckleball in the world. The squad also has D'Arcy Short who has a brilliant record in Australia, along with pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile who can bowl consistently at good lengths. Glenn Maxwell needs no introduction while all-rounder Marcus Stoinis provides the perfect balance to this squad.