India vs Australia 2017, 1st T20I: Hits and Misses

After clinching a comprehensive 4-1 victory in the ODI series against the Kangaroos, Virat Kohli and his team have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series as well.

In a rain-curtailed game at Ranchi, India never looked out of sorts as they stormed past David Warner's men to an easy win, with nine wickets in hand.

Steve Smith's absence was badly felt by Australia in the first innings of the game, where they managed just 118-8 in 18.4 overs before rain came pouring in. The covers were brought on immediately and it took almost two hours for them to come off.

When the players came back on to the field, India's target was revised to 48 off 6 overs, which they achieved without any major blips on the way.

Here are the hits and misses from the first T20:

#1 Hit: Kuldeep Yadav

After being left out of the fifth match of the ODI series, Yadav managed to make a strong statement in the first T20I.

The chinaman bowler picked up two wickets in his quota of four overs, giving away just 16 runs. Aaron Finch was the only Australian batsman who looked dangerous in the first innings, but Yadav managed to send him back to the pavilion with a clever delivery that crashed onto his stumps. After that, he also took out Moises Henriques, who is a real asset in this format.

The abundance of talent in India has made life difficult for the 22-year-old. He has not been given too many opportunities, and every time he has been substituted for someone else, his replacement hasn’t disappointed.

However, Yadav is cut from tough cloth. Every time he gets selected, he manages to work his way into the playing XI. He makes his impact on the game whenever given the opportunity.

#2 Miss: David Warner

In Smith's absence, there was added pressure on Warner to perform

The stand-in Australian skipper was not able to carry his blistering form in the ODI series to the shortest format of the game.

After being put in to bat by Kohli, the left-hander failed to bring his best to the table, falling during a terrific opening spell by Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

His dismissal looked worse than it probably was due to the absence of Steve Smith in the batting order. Smith's unavailability has added to the burden of responsibility on the man from New South Wales.

He will look to turn the tables soon so as to ensure that Australia have a chance of making something of this series.

#3 Hit: Yuzvendra Chahal

Chahal helped Yadav put pressure on the Aussies

Every time Chahal steps out on the field for India, he proves with his bowling and fielding that he’s a gem of a player. The Royal Challengers Bangalore spinner is an extremely potent player in this format of the game.

He picked up one crucial wicket in the game, when he dismissed Maxwell for a paltry score of 17. The leg-spinner has now dismissed Maxwell six times in just eight innings and has truly become a thorn in the right-hander’s side.

The best quality that Chahal has is that he is a thinking cricketer. He is also a livewire on the field and gives his everything to the team with his fielding efforts, both inside the 30-yard circle as well as in the deep.

#4 Miss: Travis Head

Travis Head's middle-order woes continued

Travis Head’s unimpressive tour of India is turning from bad to worse with every game. His short stay at the crease consisted of just 16 deliveries, of which the 23-year-old could score only 9 runs.

He was pulled out of his misery when Hardik Pandya got the better of him in the 14th over of the innings. Head’s inability to create an impact on the game can be understood by the fact that even Pandya, who had an average bowling spell, managed to dismiss the Adelaide batsman.

Australia now have serious middle-order concerns leading up to the Ashes later this year, with no batsman, barring Smith, looking promising enough.

#5 Hit: Jasprit Bumrah

Once again, Bumrah showed why he is rated so highly

It has not even been two full years since Jasprit Bumrah made his international debut against Australia on their home soil. Today, he has become one of the primary pacers in the Indian team. Not only that, he is also a death-over specialist, someone who Team India had yearned for all these years.

There is something special in the kind of deliveries the 23-year-old manages to bowl with his awkward act. The delivery that he bowled to dismiss Nathan Coulter-Nile in the 18th over of the game was a perfect, ripping yorker that uprooted the leg-stump with some serious pace and precision.

Before cleaning up Coulter-Nile, Bumrah also took it upon himself to send Australia's wicket-keeper back to the hut. He dismissed Tim Paine with a short-of-a-length delivery in the same over.

#6 Miss: Moises Henriques

Henriques couldn't go past single digits in the first game

As mentioned before, Henriques is a dangerous opponent to play against in this form of the game. However, the Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder could do nothing much, as his team succumbed to its seventh straight T20I defeat to India.

Australia had lost Finch after a good knock from the right-hander, and it was important for Henriques and Head to build on the foundation to reach a dominant total. However, Henriques did not trouble the scorers much, falling to Yadav’s brilliance after making just eight runs off nine deliveries.

Considering the second half of the game was curtailed to just six overs, and the target reduced to 48, Warner decided to persist with his specialist bowlers, which is why Henriques did not even get a chance to roll his arm in the Indian innings.