5 things we learned from Australia-India T20I series

After the washout at Melbourne a couple of night ago, clear skies welcomed both teams at Sydney and it was Virat Kohli’s men who had the last laugh after chasing down 165 to win the third T20I and thereby levelling the first series of the tour, 1-1.

On a surface that helped the slower bowlers, India had a much clearer game plan which is to make use of the powerplay overs, when the ball is hard and that in the end was the difference between the two sides.

Rohit Sharma and in particular Shikhar Dhawan gave the visitors a rollicking start and it was business as usual for skipper Virat Kohli, who finished the game unbeaten with his first half-century of this tour.

Even though India would feel unlucky that the weather interrupted at the MCG, the series result, however, was a fair result as both sides played some good cricket through the three matches.

Now that the white ball cricket is over for a while, let’s look at the five things that we learned from the shortest format of the game.

#5. No war of words out in the middle

There wasn't a lot of chirping in the middle

If you have grown up watching cricket in the last decade, you would be expecting a lot of banter and sledging when India take on Australia anywhere in the world. It all started with “Monkeygate” back in 2008 and it has been nothing short of dramatic in all the series that followed.

After what transpired at Newlands in March earlier this year, it is now very certain that the Australians might focus on scoring runs and getting wickets rather than get involved in an ugly war of words out in the middle or off the field.

Once the winning run was scored, there were plenty of laughs between Mitchell Starc and his former RCB captain Virat Kohli and likewise, teams were involved in a lot of casual chat during the presentation. It looks like the same would continue in the 4-match Test series.

#4. Australia will be happy to see Dhawan back

Dhawan isn't in the Test squad

Left-handed opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan, who won the Man of the Series award is probably in the form of his life. The southpaw generally tends to do well in conditions that has bounce because of his hand-eye coordination and it was no surprise to see the way Dhawan dominate the bowling attack in the series.

Even though the playing conditions, bowling attacks and the format are entirely different, Australia will be pleased to see Shikhar Dhawan not featuring in the 4-Test match series to follow.

At the international level, its all in the mind and with runs on the board, Dhawan could have given India an attacking start in the whites and hence Australia would be very pleased that he is back on the plane to India.

#3. Virat Kohli gearing up for the Test series

Kohli is looking hungry for runs

It is not that Virat Kohli needs to prove his mettle in Australia as he has scored runs down under on his previous tours. But the hunger in him to keep improving all the time and score runs across the globe would spur him to do well in the Test series.

After a failure in the first T20I, India were not able to bat in the second match because of weather and that meant the Indian captain had the last game to stamp his authority in the series. He did exactly that but wasn’t at his usual best to start off his innings.

To win the game for your country even without playing at your best shows the greatness of Kohli, who was able to carry his team through and looked like he was ready for a tougher battle. In a way, his form with the bat will go a long way in deciding the final outcome of the Test series.

#2. Starc needs to play more limited overs cricket

Starc isn't a regular fixture in the T20I side

Australia clearly lacks an X-factor in their bowling attack in white ball cricket and this is why left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc needs to play often. Yes, the workload management is all fine but winning games must be your top priority and sometimes playing matches regularly might keep them in good stead.

Getting a game in the final T20I after Billy Stanlake was injured, Starc was right on the money from the start. He was impressive in terms of accuracy as well as pace and looked fit for the battle during the Test series.

After a whirlwind start by Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, it was Starc who provided the breakthrough but by then the openers had done the damage. It is very clear that Starc is head and shoulders above the rest of the bowlers that Australia has been using in the limited overs cricket and hence must be used more often.

#1. No shortage of crowd support for India

Who was the home side was a question most viewers would have had

The sea of blue at the ground made it look like the third T20I was played in a Mumbai or Kolkata and not at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Yes, there is a huge Indian population in Melbourne and Sydney but the crowd was so vociferous that it looked like a home game for the men in blue.

Out of the four Test matches, two are being played at MCG and SCG, the traditional Boxing Day and New Year Test matches and Kohli’s men would be hoping more of the same in the longer format as well.