Xtra Time Web Desk: Team India had a convincing 9 wickets win over Australia in their final warm-up game at the ICC academy ground on Wednesday. The Men in Blue registered back to back wins in both their warm up matches against England and Australia ahead of facing arch rivals Pakistan in the first match of T20 World Cup 2021 on October 24.
Rohit Sharma (60 retired off 41) showed sublime touch alongside opening partner K L Rahul (39 off 31) as India chased down Australia’s 152 for five in 17.5 overs.
Suryakumar Yadav (38 not out off 27) also showed glimpses of getting back to form and spent valuable time in the middle which should boost his confidence going ahead.
Hardik Pandya (14 not out off 8) once again came at four to finish the game and he did it with a clean hit over the bowler’s head.
Another plus for India was seasoned pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar finding rhythm after a poor outing against England. After a bad day in office against England, Bhuvneshwar found his rhythm and was effective both at the start and in the death.
The batting department looks more or less settled and the five specialist bowlers also inspire confidence but the same can’t be said about the extra bowling option with Hardik not bringing his all-round skills to the table at the moment.
Skipper Kohli, who decided to rest came out to field and also rolled his arm for a couple of overs.
The only concern for India will be their bowling in death overs as they conceded 58 runs off the last five overs and that is something they would like to improve on.