Australia take on India in the first of a five-match T20I series to be played between the two teams at the Manuka Oval in Canberra on Wednesday, October 29. The home team came into this series on the back of a 2-1 drubbing they handed out to the visitors in the ODIs, and this will give them a lot of confidence. However, they must be aware of the fact that India are the defending world champions in this format of the sport, and are not going to be pushovers by any means.
Years of exposure to Indian cricket via the Indian Premier League have given Australian cricketers an idea about how it operates. For the Men in Blue, continuing their momentum is the key, since they most recently won the Asia Cup in this format by defeating their arch-rivals Pakistan in the final. Tilak Varma was the hero for the Indians in the final, and he will be tipped to up the ante in this fixture as well. What works in Australia’s favour, however, is the fact that they are playing on true pitches, which assist shotmaking.
India know that playing on these pitches is not going to be easy, especially since they offer much more bounce and lateral movement than they are used to back home, or in other parts of the Indian subcontinent. Similarly, the usage of spinners will go down drastically since pacers are expected to get a lot of assistance from the pitches. Still, the home team have a lot of big hitters in their team, such as Tim David, Marcus Stoinis, and Matthew Short. These players can make the most of all the chances sent their way, and can wreak havoc with the Indian bowlers. The latter, in turn, have to bowl in the right areas and not give away too much width.
Predicted Teams
AUS: Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (c), Matthew Short, Josh Philippe (wk), Tim David, Mitchell Owen, Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood.
IND: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Key Players
Josh Hazlewood (AUS): Seamer Josh Hazlewood is one of the players to watch out for in this series since he can wreak a lot of havoc with his bowling. Hazlewood played a vital role for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru winning their maiden IPL title in 2025, and therefore, is widely known to the Indian cricketers. The lanky seamer can consistently hit the right areas time and again, and this gives him a huge advantage.
Tilak Varma (IND): Middle-order batter Tilak Varma, who won the Asia Cup final for India almost single-handedly with an unbeaten 69, will be their trump card. The southpaw knows the right balance between hitting big sixes and rotating the strike, and also possesses the temperament to make it big. Varma, who hails from Hyderabad, is blessed with an excellent technique and can prove to be a thorn in the flesh of Australia with his rotation of the strike.
Match Prediction
Australia are the outright favourites since they are playing at home. India will need some time to get used to these conditions, since many of their T20 players were not a part of the ODI side and are flying straight from home. India are high on confidence, but they played the Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates, on pitches which were completely different from the ones Down Under. The Men in Blue, led by Suryakumar Yadav, will look to make the most of the fielding restrictions inside the first six overs, and Australia’s task will be to restrict them.
