India vs Australia 2019: Australia's predicted playing XI for the 1st T20I

The Australian cricket team will begin their tour of India on February 24th with a T20I in Visakhapatnam. The T20I will be followed by another at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore and a 5-match ODI series after that.

Both the teams appear to be in good form ahead of the series. Hosts India won the ODI series in New Zealand, and lost 2-1 in a closely contested T20I series. Meanwhile, Australia won a two-match Test series 2-0 against Sri Lanka and have selected this squad primarily based on BBL and recent performances.

Though the hosts India will be the clear favorites, the Aussies have often shown their fighting instinct and they may throw a surprise or two.

Let's take a look at Australia's Predicted XI for the first T20I.

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Openers: Aaron Finch and D'Arcy Short

Finch and Short need to put on a good opening stand

Skipper Aaron Finch and BBL top scorer D'Arcy Short seem set to open the batting for the Aussies in the 1st T20I. Finch recently tasted success and won the BBL with the Melbourne Renegades, while Short's Hobart Hurricanes were on top of the table in the group stage, only to lose in the semi-final.

Short last played in Indian conditions during last season's IPL which was a forgettable outing for him as he failed to adapt. He has changed considerably from last time around and has been highly consistent against pacers and spinners alike lately. This will be a great chance for him to prove his worth to the team once more.

Finch will look to combine well with Short and put on a good opening stand. He has had a tough time in international cricket recently and hasn't been among the runs, but will hope that this series will revive his lost form.

Middle Order: Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb (wicketkeeper) and Ashton Turner

Khawaja and Handscomb join together after playing out a Kuldeep Yadav over

The battle for a spot in the Australian middle order will be one that may keep recurring throughout this series. Only one or two players can retain their spot after the return of Steven Smith and David Warner, and this will be a test to see who that player will be.

The No. 3 spot is most likely to be occupied by Usman Khawaja over Shaun Marsh, simply because the former has had more T20 action in recent times. It has been long since Marsh played a T20 game, and the Aussies will want to preserve him for the ODIs or play him in the second game in case another player doesn't work out.

Peter Handscomb is expected to edge out Alex Carey in the race for the wicket-keeper spot. The former showed better performances against India, and he can bat in the middle-order while Carey isn't effective while doing so.

Also, Ashton Turner will likely make it to the playing XI on the back of his solid BBL performances. He is expected to come in at either No. 6 or No. 7 as the fail-safe to provide rearguard action or quick runs at the end. He also offers an additional spin bowling option combined with that of Maxwell or Short.

All Rounders: Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell

Maxwell and Stoinis

Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell will certainly make it to the playing XI and will be Australia's all-rounders for this tour. The duo received laurels at the Cricket Australia awards for the Best ODI and T20I player award respectively. Both of them had a brilliant time in the BBL playing for the Melbourne Stars, where they eventually finished runners-up.

Stoinis, who excelled in his position as opener, delivered the goods under Maxwell's captaincy and can certainly smash the Indian bowlers around the park. Maxwell, who is more of a senior player in the team, can move himself up and down the order depending on the situation and will look to get his eye in before going for the big shots.

The duo will be expected to roll their arms over too at some point of the series, and will look to get a few overs away between them so that they don't need to play 5 specialist bowlers. Their experience and form will be vital for Australia on this tour.

Spinner: Adam Zampa

Adam Zampa

Adam Zampa is expected to be Australia's only specialist spinner for the T20I encounter. He troubled the Indian batsmen on Australian soil in the two T20Is he got the chance to bowl in, and got many big scalps including that of Virat Kohli at a very miserly economy rate.

Zampa is a very effective T20 bowler and has played enough IPL to know how to play on Indian tracks, and should be preferred over Lyon in the T20Is.

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Pacers: Kane Richardson, Jason Behrendorff, Pat Cummins

Pat Cummins will be key for Australia

The Aussie pace attack will be the real place where the headaches will start for the captain and coaches, as they need to pick 3 out of 5 equally impressive players.

Pat Cummins is almost certain to make the playing XI after the coaching staff backed his impressive performance and hailed him as Australia's "No. 1" bowler presently. He was a constant threat to India during the Border Gavaskar Trophy and will want to continue his dominance on Indian soil.

Jason Behrendorff is expected to make the cut for the 1st T20I ahead of Perth Scorchers' team-mate Jhye Richardson, as he's a left-arm pacer and provides more variation to the side. His BBL stats show that he's a great death bowler and was unlucky not to pick up more wickets.

Kane Richardson was the highest wicket-taker in the BBL and he's expected to start this match, trumping Nathan Coulter-Nile for the spot.