New-look Team India get ready for Australian challenge as T20I series kicks off

With the World Cup 2023 campaign in the books, a new-look Team India comprising a flurry of fresh faces will be taking the yard against Australia as a five-match T20I series starts from November 23rd.

For the Men in Blue, Suryakumar Yadav will be captaining the side as Hardik Pandya is still tending to his injury copped against Bangladesh in the global extravaganza while Ruturaj Gaikwad will be deputizing for the explosive middle-order batter.

This is also going to be the opening block of India’s preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the following year that will have the eyes fixed on the likes of rising names in the form of Rinku Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan and Arshdeep Singh.

Suryakumar and Axar Patel, two senior players who have faced off against Australia in the past will be banked on to deliver the goods mainly, although a lot of eyes will be on the young brigade to step up and perform. Australia, on the other hand, have retained a majority of their World Cup squad but will be captained by Matthew Wade. 

Venue Watch:

The surface at Visakhapatnam has hosted nine T20Is and is a pitch that usually assists bowlers.  The average score on the surface batting first is 119 while the average score chasing is 105. Three matches have been won batting first while six of them have been won chasing.

Head to Head:

Matches played: 26

India – 15

Australia - 10

Match Details:

Match – India vs Australia

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

Date: 23rd November, 2023

Time: 7:00 PM IST

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 (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.