India vs Australia: Kohli & his boys all set to pose a tougher challenge to Australia in T20Is

Indian team led by Virat Kohli will look to start the T20I series against Austalia on a winning note. Image: BCCI

Xtra Time Web Desk: Brushing aside the disappointment of ODI series loss to Australia, Virat Kohli led India will look to pose a tougher challenge to Aaron Finch’s side in the T20I series starting at the Manuka Oval on Friday. Back of the morale boosting win in the final ODI on Wednesday, the Men in Blue will look to wrest the initative early in the three match T20 series in Canberra. The Indians will be much confident in the T20 format, coming from the recently concluded IPL 2020.

The presence of T20 specialists Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar and T Natarajan, who did well on his ODI debut on Wednesday, lends much-needed balance to the bowling department. Yorker specialist Natarajan, who was a late addition to the ODI squad, could also make his T20 debut on Friday having shown enough promise in his maiden international appearance.

Unlike the SCG, the Manuka Oval surface had enough for both the spinners and pacers. It will be interesting to see who opens up the bowling alongside Jasprit Bumrah with the toss-up being between Mohammad Shami and Deepak Chahar. Yuzvendra Chahal, who had a forgettable outing in the ODIs, will also be looking to bounce back.

In batting, K L Rahul, who batted at five in ODIs, is expected to go back to his preferred opening slot alongside Shikhar Dhawan. The in-form wicketkeeper batsman had also opened in the previous series against New Zealand and would be expected to bat the bulk of the 20 overs like he did so well in the IPL.

Skipper Kohli looked in good touch in ODIs and will be aiming to build on that while number four Shreyas Iyer will look to shred off the disappointment of ODI series.

As Kohli mentioned, the win in the inconsequential third ODI was just the kind of result they needed ahead of the T20 series, else the tour would have gotten harder.

Squads:

India: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (vice-captain and wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, T Natarajan.

With inputs from PTI