India eye victorious start to T20I series against stacked Australian side
After a flamboyant win in Sydney, India is all set to kickstart the T20I series against Australia on Wednesday, October 29th.
With the ODI series going against India despite an excellent fightback in the final battle, the Men in Blue will be hopeful of getting a resounding start to the T20I series.
As Suryakumar Yadav returns to the helm, he will have his task cut out against an in-form Australia. He has been strapped for runs in recent times and will be desperate to get his form back Down Under. Also, this series can be the start of the preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup which will be played in 2026. A balanced Indian side featuring the likes of Abhishek Sharma, Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma will be clubbed alongside the experienced names of Axar Patel, Shubman Gill and Sanju Samson.
The availability of Jasprit Bumrah will be a massive boost for the Indian bowling unit as they step out in the Manuka Oval. Australia too boasts of a fine balance of experience and youth. Their batting unit is also packed with some serious firepower which might make India take decisions to try and exercise damage control instead of going all in.
Venue Watch
Manuka Oval offers true bounce which makes it tad easier for the batters. However, there is always an element of extra bump that might witness the fast bowlers storming in without any mercy. The square boundaries are slightly larger as compared to the other grounds in Australia, thereby making strokeplay square of wicket a tad more difficult than usual. However, one can expect a decent scoring game with the kind of mean punch that both the sides pack.
Match details:
Match - India vs Australia, 1st T20I
Venue – Manuka Oval, Canberra
Date – 29th October, 2025
Time – 1:45 PM
Head-to-head:
Matches played - 32
India - 20
Australia - 11
Squads:
India:
Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wicket-keeper), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar
Australia:
Mitchell Marsh (captain), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Philippe (wicket-keeper), Josh Inglis (wicket-keeper), Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitchell Owen, Matt Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa, Tanveer Sangha
