Australia's tour of India 2023 

IND vs AUS, 1st T20I

Preview 

India’s scintillating World Cup campaign ended with a heartbreak in the final against Australia. They will now face the same opposition for a five-match T20 series, starting November 23. The series opener will be played at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam. 

With the T20 World Cup slated to take place in June next year, both teams will look at this series as an opportunity to begin their preparations for the marquee event. It will also feature several players who weren’t part of the just concluded ODI World Cup. In the absence of the injured Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav is set to lead team India. The 33 year old has been India’s consistent batter in the format and is expected to do well here. Despite a forgettable World Cup, we back our very own 360 degree player to lead from the front in this series. 

Yashasvi Jaiswal can be one of the outstanding performers for the men in blue in this series. The talented southpaw was impressive in the limited opportunities he has gotten so far. He has scored 232 runs in 7 T20Is at an average of 38.66 and a staggering strike rate of 161. 

Ishan Kishan remained on the sidelines for the majority of the World Cup, but will certainly get a chance to make a mark here. The wicket keeper batter position which is vacant is likely to be occupied by Kisan. 

Also, keep a keen eye on Rinku Singh, the exciting finisher. We put our stakes on the power hitter to be one of the breakout stars. 

India’s bowling prowess will be led by Arshdeep Singh in the absence of the regular bowlers. Prasidh Krishna will probably share the new ball with Singh. This new ball duo doesn’t have much experience and might concede a shedload of runs against Australia’s potent batting order. Leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi, however, is the one you should watch out for. The leggie has a knack for producing breakthroughs at crucial junctures and much of the same will be expected from him during this series. 

Matthew will lead this fairly experienced Australian side against India. Following the record sixth world cup title triumph, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazelwood, Mitchell Marsh, Cameron Green and Mitchell Starc will be heading home. However, star players such as Steven Smith, Travis Head and Glenn Maxwell are part of the squad. 

Head, who was adjourned the player of the match in the World Cup final against India for his match defining knock of 137 runs off just 120 balls, will again hold the key for the Kangaroos with bat in hand. The attacking opener has been in sensational form, and since he has been playing in these tracks for a month and a half, he will definitely be someone who can play a pivotal role in this series too. 

Often regarded as the big show, Glenn Maxwell is always seen as a threat and a genuine game changer in this format. But one batter India should be chary of Tim David. He has a whopping strike rate of 163 in this format and possesses the ability to single handedly take the game away from the opposition in little to no time. David will certainly go after India’s bowling attack which lacks experience. 

Despite a tall and formidable batting attack, Australia do have a few chinks in their armour. Bowling is one area which the hosts can look to exploit. Barring Leg spinner Adam Zampa, the men in yellow do not have much variety in their bowling department. Zampa will however pose a constant threat for the Indian batters. He is familiar with the playing surfaces here and will aim to use that to his advantage. The leggie will be riding high on confidence on the back of a successful World Cup campaign. Left arm speedster Spencer Johnson has been given another chance to give his best foot forward, along with leg spinner Tanveer Sangha and the vastly talented all rounder Matt Short. 

Match Details

Match: IND vs AUS, 1st T20I, Australia tour of India, 2023

Date: Thursday, November 23, 2023

Time: 7:00 PM

Venue: Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam

Pitch and Weather Report

The pitch at the DR YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium is slightly on the slower side. It’s still a pretty decent batting surface, but spinners will get assistance once the ball gets softer, and scoring runs during the second half will be a tad challenging. But, two of the three T20Is played at this venue have been won by the chasing team. So, it’s very likely that the captain winning the toss will elect to field first. 

We can witness a couple of rain interruptions but we should still have a full fledged match. 

IND vs AUS Squads

IND: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad (Vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (Wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.

AUS: Matthew Wade (Capt), Aaron Hardie, Jason Behrendorff, Sean Abbott, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa.

IND vs AUS Probable Playing XIs

IND: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube Rinku Singh, Axar Patel/Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan/Mukesh Kumar

AUS: Matthew Wade (c & wk), Steven Smith, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis, Tim David, Spencer Johnson, Adam Zampa, Sean Abbott, Tanveer Sangha

Match Prediction

India have emerged victorious in three of their last five T20Is against Australia. However, they will be facing a nearly new look side and won’t thus start as firm favourites for the series. Australia’s batting order is pretty strong and can easily run away with the game if things go their way. India’s bowling attack will have an uphill task of keeping the Aussie batters quiet on their hands. However, Indian batters can go after the Aussie bowling that lacks teeth. That is where Wade and co might struggle. Keeping the overall squads in consideration, we believe Australia has the edge in the series opener. 

We predict the visitors to draw first blood and go one up in the five match T20I series. 

Suggested Playing XI Real11 Fantasy Cricket  

Team 1

Team 2