India v Australia T20 Series – Preview

With the 2023 ICC 50 overs Cricket World Cup concluded on Sunday, the focus returns to the nation’s series. Most of the nations will in preparation for next year’s World Cup in the United States and the Caribbean the first anticipated one has to be India playing host to Australia which resumes on Thursday 23 November.

India

In preparation for next month’s tour to South Africa, India will have an opportunity to play in front of the home fans for the last time this year. They set to clash with old rivalries Australia in the five T20 series. In mind, India will want to give the fans a proper send-out. On the other side, having disappointed losing in the final of the 50-overs on Sunday 19 November to the same opponents, the upcoming five matches even though are in a different format will be considered as the grudge game. Nothing will wipe the tears of the home fans than getting better against the Aussies. That edge will count in the moral boost too.

In the 15-men squad, India has decided to rest some of the country’s leading players including Virat Kohli, who was a leading run-go-getter in the recently ended World Cup. Plus, they will be missing the captain Rohit Sharma – for the same reason too. In the absence of Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav will captain the side for the whole series. Yadav remains the only player who was part of India’s starting XL in the World Cup final against Australia. Ishan Kishan and Pradesh Krishna, who were part of World Cup India’s team, even though were not used in the tournament, made a cut again in the squad. Experienced batter Shreyas Iyer will join the team in the last two matches as the vice-captain.

Australia

As Australia named their squad for the upcoming series, the only missing notable name in the list is David Warner. The 37-year-old star Batman was left out of the squad with the federation citing that it ” decided to rest Warner after a demanding World Cup”. That statement will be supported by the fact that Warner played a crucial role in delivering a sixth World Cup title by becoming his nation’s highest runs goal-scorer with 535. For cricket lovers though, the decision leaves the open debate if Warner is still part of the Aussies plans.

Leading up to the World Cup semifinals clash against South Africa, the aggressive opening batman announced that he is planning to retire for the Test Match after the home series scheduled against Pakistan next month. He even mentioned that he has no plans to take the Cricket Australia (CA) 2024-25 contract but indicated his intentions to play the T20 World Cup scheduled next year in the United States and Caribbean. In the absence of Warner, Steve Smith is expected to be elevated to the opening role position. Smith has played that role in the past, especially for Sydney Sixers in last year’s edition of Big Bash League. In the past, there were talks of Smith being pushed to that role in the national set-up especially in a September 3-0 loss series against South Africa but missed it due to a wrist injury. With Warner missing, the Aussies are not short of a strong squad. Seven of the winning World Cup members including Glenn Maxwell, Adam Zampa, Travis Head, Sean Abbott, Josh Inglis, Marcus Stoinis, and Tanveer Sangha are included.

Prediction

Australia have an experienced line-up and won’t struggle to get the result.