IND vs AUS: 1st T20I Preview – India’s young guns ready to take charge in shortest format

After India’s heartbreaking loss in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 against Australia, the two teams will once again lock horns in a five-match T20I series starting on Thursday, November 23 at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam. Both teams have rested most of their main players after a long World Cup and numerous young stars will be seen in action.

The Indian team will be led by Suryakumar Yadav while Matthew Wade has been entrusted with the responsibility for Australia. Notably, India have had an upper hand in their T20I history, having won 15 out of the 26 matches.

Furthermore, the Men in Blue have won the last two series played between the two teams and will be eager to complete a hat-trick of wins. They have several talented youngsters in their squad who will be eager to make a strong case for their selection in the T20 World Cup 2024.

On the other hand, Australia will look to test their young talent and begin their preparations for the T20 World Cup 2024 scheduled to be played in the USA and West Indies in June 2024.

Pitch Report

There have been a total of three T20I matches played at the venue so far where teams chasing have won twice. The average first innings score has been 129 while the highest target chased has been 127. Captain winning the toss is likely to bowl first keeping the past record of the venue in mind.

Probable Playing XI

India (IND)

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan

Australia (AUS)

Travis Head, Matthew Short, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Wade (c/wk), Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Tanveer Sangha, Nathan Ellis, Jason Behrendorff, Adam Zampa