India won their five-match T20I series against Australia 2-1 after rain played spoilsport and dampened the final game with a washout. Earlier, the first match of the series, too, was abandoned midway due to inclement weather. The Men in Blue, who are the defending world champions, put up a brilliant show after losing the second match and came from behind to pocket the series.
The star of the series, for them, was Abhishek Sharma, and he was rightfully adjudged as the player of the series after amassing 163 runs. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav also led the side with confidence. He gave opportunities to everyone in the squad to express themselves. Alongside Sharma, fellow opener Shubman Gill also put up bright performances and ended the tournament with 132 runs under his belt.
Although he was widely criticised for his inability to get going early on in the innings, the Punjab batter, who is also India’s Test and ODI captain, hit 15 boundaries and two sixes in the series, and batted at a strike rate of 136.08. Australia lost out on a lot as none of their batters could cross the 100-run mark in the series when it came to total runs scored. Tim David was their leading run-getter with 89 runs in three innings, while captain Mitchell Marsh came next with 87 runs.
In the bowling department, India unearthed a new talent in Washington Sundar, who won them the fourth T20I almost single-handedly. Australia could not spare their blushes as they lost their last four wickets for just three runs, thanks to Sundar’s magic. The off-spin-bowling all-rounder was not given too many chances before this game to express himself with the ball in hand, but he rewarded his captain’s faith with this performance.
Sundar also amassed 61 runs in the two innings he batted in, with a highest of 49 not out in the third match. Overall, this was a highly successful series for India, especially since it came on the back of the 1-2 thrashing they received from Australia in the ODI series that preceded it.
The home team tried to overload their squad with big hitters, but failed to take up players who could rotate the strike and find gaps in the middle overs. This, along with some ineffective bowling, apart from Nathan Ellis’ performances during critical times, lost them the series. The latter took nine scalps in this series and was its highest wicket-taker. India will be a force to reckon with in the T20 World Cup next year, especially since they are the hosts.
