India vs Australia, First T20I: 5 unnoticed things from the match

After India tour of England earlier this year, if there was any other fixture worth waiting for, it was India tour of Australia. Gladly the wait is over. The tour began with 3-match T20I series. Australia has lost last 4 matches in this format. Surprisingly, when these two teams met last year, it was Australia who had the final laugh as they won the match convincingly courtesy brilliant spell from Jason Behrendorff.

The Gabba, Brisbane was all set for the big clash. Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to field first. Darcy Short ended his painful stay at the crease to Khaleel Ahmed. The poor form with the bat for Aaron Finch continued. It was the homeboy Chris Lynn and Glenn Maxwell who counterattacked the Indian bowlers. Maxwell was just looking dangerous, but the rain stopped play. Australia posted a good total on the board considering the curtailed 17-over match and the help of DLS method.

In reply, India was not off to a great start as the man in form Rohit Sharma departed for a low score of 7. Shikhar Dhawan had the best day with the bat for the Men in Blue which gave the real impetus to India's chase. However, he failed to convert it once again as he was dismissed for a well made 76 of just 42 balls. Virat Kohli didn't have an ideal start to the tour as he was dismissed for a shocking single digit score.

Once again Dinesh Karthik had the onus upon himself to win it for India. But Marcus Stoinis was the saviour for Australia as he operated smartly using the slower balls to good effect. When their best bowler Andrew Tye was having a bad day, Stoinis delivered and won it for Australia. Gee! That was a close match and a fantastic start to the long tour of Australia!

Here are the 5 things you may have missed from the match.

#1 Kuldeep Yadav now has most wickets after 15 T20 innings

Undoubtedly the wrist spinners are ruling the roost in the limited overs cricket at the moment. The fact that the top 6 bowlers in the ICC T20 rankings are wrist spinners justifies it. The chinaman Kuldeep Yadav debuted for India against West Indies in 2017 and announced his mystery to the cricketing world with his deceptive googlies.

Since then he has been a regular feature for Team India in the white-ball cricket. He was mighty impressive when India toured South Africa earlier this year. He provides the wicket-taking ability for the captain in the middle overs and he has mastered it. Today he became the highest wicket taker in T20I after 15 T20 international innings. He now has taken 31 wickets after surpassing the Sri Lankan bowler Ajanta Mendis who had 29 wickets. Surely he is one for the future for Team India and many more records are destined to come his way as he continues to play for India.

#2 MS Dhoni missed a T20 match for India in Australia for the first time

The fans were in for a shock when the T20 squad was announced for Australia. Selectors had decided to drop MS Dhoni to groom young Rishabh Pant as a full-time wicketkeeper for Team India in the shortest format.

A lot of this had to do with the fact that the next T20 world cup is being held in Australia in 2020. Selectors realized MS Dhoni's retirement plans after 2019 ODI world cup and hence Pant was given a green signal as the main wicketkeeper-batsman in the side. The series would surely help Rishabh Pant to get used to keeping wickets on bouncier Australian pitches. As a result, this was the first time Team India played a T20 international match against in Australia without MS Dhoni in the playing XI.

India missed MS Dhoni Today.

#3 Virat Kohli probably had the worst day in 2018 on cricketing field

The whole India realizes how important this tour of Australia for Virat Kohli led side is. Kohli has made a name for himself in the international cricket as the modern master. He sure puts a huge price on his wicket every time he walks to the middle.

The last few years have been phenomenal for the Indian skipper- he is making batting look ridiculously easy and tumbling batting records for fun. Let's not talk about his breathtaking form in the year 2018, he has been superficial in the way he has batted every time he had an opportunity. But, today was a rare off day for king Kohli in 2018. He dropped a catch in the field which is rare and add to it the single-digit score with the bat. It's rightly said that it is no surprise when Kohli scores a century, but when he fails to. Kohli would be itching to turn it around soon and continue his best form.

#4 Krunal Pandya has the most expensive spell for India against Australia

Things seemed so happy for the Pandya family a month ago when the elder brother Krunal Pandya was named in the national squad. He made his debut for India in T20 international against Windies and was mighty impressive with his all-round performance.

But cricket is a funny game. It doesn't take much time to turn heroes into zeros in cricket. Krunal Pandya would have believed to continue his good form in Australia too, but Glenn Maxwell had other ideas. He tonked Krunal for 3 consecutive sixes in an over and Pandya found it hard to recover. Hence, Pandya went wicketless in his 4 over spell for 55 runs at an economy of close to 14- the most expensive spell by an Indian bowler against Australia in T20I.

India don't seem to have any option other than Krunal Pandya at this moment.

#5 Australia finally won a T20I match against India at home since 2012

For the first time ever, Team India was tagged as favourites ahead of the long tour. It was because of many obvious reasons ranging from banning key players to a string of poor performances. Australia had come into this series after a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Pakistan in UAE.

The team in transition for Australia has had a tough time to play as a unit in the recent past. The last time India played T20 series against Australia in Australia, the men in blue were too good for the baggy green. The home team had suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of India. Since 2012, Australia finally managed to win a T20 match against India at home. That should do a world of good and relief in the Australian camp. It was a much-needed win for Aussies.