IND vs AUS: India's predicted playing XI for second T20I against Australia

After suffering a four-wicket loss against Australia in the first T20I in Mohali, India will look to level the series in the second T20I encounter in Nagpur on September 23 (Friday). 

The Men in Blue need to win the second match to stay alive in the series. However, it will not come easy against the reigning T20 World Cup champions. On that note, let us take a look at team India's predicted XI for the second T20I. 

Openers: Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul

Team India openers KL Rahul and skipper Rohit Sharma gave a decent start to their team during the powerplay in the first T20I. Both Rohit and Rahul played their shots against the Aussie pace battery upfront and tried to dominate the proceedings.

While Rahul went on to score a fifty and crossed the 2000-run mark in his T20I career, Rohit was scalped cheaply by pacer Josh Hazlewood as he looked to play a big shot. The hosts will require their openers to go big in the second T20I match. 

Middle-order: Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, and Dinesh Karthik

Virat Kohli looked fidgety during the series opener as the right-handed batter took seven deliveries to score his two runs before giving an easy catch to mid-on off Nathan Ellis. Kohli will want to have a much better outing in the second match of the series. 

The second-highest run-getter in the T20I format this year so far, Suryakumar Yadav was simply excellent with the bat against Australia in the first game. Yadav took just 25 deliveries to score his 46 runs which included two fours and four maximums. 

Wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik did not have much time to settle down as he came to bat in the 16th over. The right-handed batter managed to score just six runs before he was undone by Ellis. The Indian team management is expected to give another chance to Karthik in the second T20I. 

All-rounders: Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel

Ace all-rounder  Hardik Pandya was simply amazing with the bat in the series opener. Team India looked in trouble when he came to bat, but Hardik ensured that the Men in Blue cross the 200-run mark in their allotted 20 overs. 

Axar Patel, on the other hand, did not quite utilise the opportunity with the bat, but the left-arm spinner was the pick of all the bowlers for India. Unlike his bowling partners, Axar bowled at an excellent economy of 4.2 and also took three big wickets for his team. 

Bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Jasprit Bumrah

Team India  bowlers were badly thrashed by the Australian batters during the first T20I encounter. None of the Indian bowlers troubled the visiting team barring Axar as they chased down the 200+ score easily. 

While pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel gave away 100+ runs in their eight overs, Yuzvendra Chahal was also costly with the ball but managed to pick one wicket. Meanwhile, express pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested for the first match might make a return to the Indian team to bolster the bowling department. 

Team India predicted XI for the second T20I: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal