AUS vs IND: 1st T20I Preview – The battle resumes in shortest format

Aaron Finch’s Australia and Virat Kohli’s India will take on each other at the Manuka Oval in the first T20I on Friday. Australia won the ODI series 2-1, with India winning the final match and opening their account in the ICC World Super League.

Australia and India are ranked 2nd and 3rd in the ICC T20I rankings. A series win for Australia will take them ahead of England, both of whom are tied on 275 rating points. India have been unbeaten in 7 T20Is this year, winning 2 against Sri Lanka at home and 5 against New Zealand in New Zealand. Meanwhile, Australia have won 3 T20Is and lost as many. They lost 2-1 against England in England, while they won by the same margin against South Africa in South Africa.

Match Info:

Match 1- Australia vs India

Venue- Manuka Oval, Canberra

Time – 1:40 PM IST

Head To Head:

Team News:

Australia:

David Warner has been ruled out of the white-ball leg of the tour, and D’Arcy Short has been named as a replacement. Finch also stated that Starc will be ready for this t20i series. Every game from here on remains a buildup for the all-important T20 WC in India next year. It will be interesting to see if Finch opens with Short, or if he tries Stoinis at the top of the order in the shortest format given his experience in franchise cricket.

India:

A win in the final ODI shall surely boost their confidence going into the T20I series. Virat Kohli’s 4 changes worked out well for India, as all the players who got a chance contributed in this victory. He would certainly be aiming to maintain a 100% win record for the T20I team this year. India are likely to rest their lead pacers, as the 1st practice match for the Test Series starts from 6th December.

Probable XI: