India hope to extend their lead against a wounded Australia in Kerala

Team India got off to a rollicking start in the five-match series as skipper Suryakumar Yadav arrived to light up the show for the Men in Blue alongside some controlled aggression from Ishan Kishan and Rinku Singh, who helped the Indian unit cross the line despite a few hiccups at the end.

As the caravan arrives in Kerala for the second match of the series, a lot will be riding on the shoulders of the Indian captain once again with Australia seemingly interested in getting the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa into the mix, both of whom were rested in the opening fixture of the series due to a long World Cup showdown.

With the Aussies on the backfoot, expect this to be another cracker of a contest. The bowling unit of both the sides will be under the scanner as the Indian bowlers, barring Mukesh Kumar, were peppered to the ropes at will while Australia had their own sets of woes gracing them. To add to India’s long-list of concerns, their fielding and catching will have to improve if they are to continue the good work that they have done so far.

This is going to be an important clash in the series considering the fact that Team India will be hoping to further extend their lead while Australia will want to level scores.

Venue Watch:

Contrary to what was a featherbed at Vizag, Greenfield Stadium may just be the opposite. With a decent bit of grass on it and with very limited chance of dew coming in, the bowlers will have a joyride in this venue, particularly the turners. A total of three T20I matches have been played so far in the venue that has seen just one of the games been won batting first while the other two have been won chasing.

Head to Head:

Matches played: 27

India – 16

Australia - 10

Match Details:

Match – India vs Australia

Venue: Greenfield Stadium, Kerala

Date: 26th November, 2023

Time: 7:00 PM

Squads:

India: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad (VC), 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.

Australia: Matthew Wade (C), 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.