What to look forward to in India vs Australia T20 Series

Yes! The much awaited India vs Australia Series is almost here, with the scheduled tour including 4 Tests, 3 ODIs (One Day Internationals) and 3 T20I (Twenty20 International) matches for the Indian cricket team in Australia from November 2018 to January 2019. The tour will kick off on the 21st of November in Brisbane with the 1st T20I followed by two more at Melbourne and Sydney respectively.

By looking at the all the stats from the previous matches, India undoubtedly has an upper hand on the T20I against Australia. With over 15 T20 matches played by both the teams against each other, 10 are in favor of the Indian Cricket team and 5 won by the Australian team, the 3rd T20I was abandoned last year in Hyderabad due to incessant rains. Of the 6 matches which were played in Australia, the Indian Cricket Team has won 4 matches and lost only 2 to the Australian Cricket Team.

Let’s also take a moment here to look at the history both the teams have with each other in other areas. The highest match aggregate between the two teams is a whopping 403 which happened during Australia’s tour in Rajkot, India during October 2013. In this match, Australia scored 201 and India responded with 202 on their home ground. The lowest aggregate, however, between the two teams has been 149; India 74 and Australia 75 during February 2008 in Melbourne.

The Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli, is leading the board of the two teams as a player with most runs scored, with an average of 60.42 runs – 432 runs in 11 innings. The Indian team will once again expect their top 3 batsmen to fire and carry the burden of run-making in Australian conditions. This is a golden opportunity for Rishabh Path to grab the wicketkeeper spot with both hands, in the absence of the legend, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Australian bowling unit, led by Billy Stanlake and Jason Behrendorff will be aiming to get through the top-heavy Indian batting line up early and put the grit of relatively unsettled middle order to test. Dinesh Karthik, Manish Pandey, and Lokesh Rahul will fight it out for the two coveted middle order slots. The Australian team captain Aaron Finch tops the Australian list of cricketers with an average of 42.75 runs – 342 runs in 8 innings in T20s.

The Australian batting line-up is laced with hard-hitting world class batsmen and can destroy any balling unit on their day. These numbers are staggering and speak volumes for themselves. Aaron Finch and Chris Lynn will share the onus to nullify the accurate Jasprit Bumrah and ever dependable Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the early overs and provide a solid platform for the likes of Glenn Maxwell to explode later.

Overall, the Indian team looks more balanced, especially with Virat Kohli and in-form Rohit Sharma in their ranks. The bowling unit too is well versed with the T20 format as most of the bowlers have come on the back of extensive IPL exposure. Bhuvi and Bumrah, along with the pace of Umesh Yadav, will be a handful for any batsman, especially in Australian conditions.

The Australian team, which is known for its aggressive approach towards the game, will hope for inspiration from the experienced Aaron Finch and Maxwell. This is going to be an absolute treat for cricketing fans to watch the action down under.