India vs Australia 1st T20I match: The Indian Cricket team will be locking horns against current T20i world champions Australia in the first T20I of the three-match series at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium at 7:30 PM IST (today). The toss will take place at 7pm IST. India's lacklustre campaign at the recently concluded Asia Cup 2022 had raised some serious questions but the selectors have picked up almost the same squad for the T20 World Cup in Australia.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

The India vs Australia T20 match will begin at 7:30 PM IST. The toss will take place at 7pm IST. It will be broadcast on Star Sports Network in India. The live streaming of the India vs Australia match will be available on Disney+ Hotstar website and app.

India vs Australia T20 expected playing XI:

India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah.

Australia: Sean Abbott, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Aaron Finch (c), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Steve Smith, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa

As per IANS, The continuity of similar faces shows that skipper Rohit Sharma, head coach Rahul Dravid and selectors have not pressed the panic button yet and trusting the boys to come good in upcoming matches. However, the team management will still look to fix some issues and try out a few more things in order to finalise their best possible eleven.

As far as the batting is concerned, the top four consisting of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav pick themselves up automatically, and Hardik Pandya with his valuable all-round ability, is also a sure-shot starter.

The biggest question is who will play as the wicket-keeper -- Rishabh Pant or Dinesh Karthik? During the Asia Cup, Karthik started as India's first-choice wicket-keeper but injury to all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja forced the team management to bring in left-hander Pant, who didn't look convincing and so far hasn't been able to justify his talent in T20I cricket like the Test and ODIs.

The idea to use a left-handed batter in the middle overs was to counter the left-arm spinner, and Australia also have a similar bowler in Ashton Agar. So, Pant can get the preference over Karthik, who is known for his finishing prowess. Despite being a like-for-like replacement for Jadeja, Axar Patel didn't get a game at the Asia Cup. Deepak Hooda, who can bowl a few overs and gives captain an extra option, got the opportunity to play but he wasn't used in the bowling at all.

India's bowling attack will be bolstered by the return of Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel. Both Bumrah and Harshal had missed the Asia Cup 2022 due to injuries and they will be keen to make their mark and get into the groove during the three-match series.