India v Australia, 2nd T20I, Guwahati – India Predicted XI

India carried on their winning momentum despite the change in formats as Australia conceded a 1-0 lead early in the series. The focus now shifts to the brand new stadium at Guwahati which becomes the 49th venue to host an international match for India.

After the loss in the ODI series, Australia powered by the captaincy of the dynamic David Warner would now aim to take the T20 trophy back home and therefore, the game tomorrow remains pivotal for the interest of the series. India, on the other hand, would be expected to be ruthless and be aiming to clean sweep the series. Also, they would go ahead with the same XI unless any 11th-hour injury. Here’s the predicted XI 0f the Indian side.

Openers (Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan)

Rohit Sharma showed a spark of his brilliance in the seven deliveries he played in the only T20I of the series so far. The target of 48 from six overs would have turned out to be tricky had India not got a quickfire start from Sharma. He put pressure on the Australian bowlers up front as he hit the first deliveries from Beherndorff and Coulter-Nile for boundaries.

Yet again he has the opportunity to show his class against Australia. Somehow, Rohit Sharma goes that extra mile when it comes to batting against Australia. Shikhar Dhawan comes back into the team after a long lay-off and showed no sign of rust as he picked up on his form he carried from the Champions Trophy, West India and Sri Lanka. India’s captain claimed the impact of his innings on the matches were missed during his absence.

Middle order (Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav)

For the nth time, Virat Kohli was present at the crease to see India through towards victory by scoring the winning shot in the run chase. He is only one boundary away to be the quickest player to reach the 200 mark. Also, he needs just 37 runs to surpass Tillakaratne Dilshan’s tally of T20I runs to become the second highest run-scorer in this format of the game.

Manish Pandey and MS Dhoni ideally would be used for providing the impetus for the second half of the Indian innings.  India finds a reliable number 4 in Pandey as he can hold the innings together in case a couple of early wickets falls. MS Dhoni would want to have few swings at the ball after the 16th over.

Kedar Jadhav might not have a proper go at the Australians if Hardik Pandya is sent ahead of him depending on the situation. He would also play the role of part-timer, if needed, due to his knack of breaking partnerships. All in all, India has a deep reserve in terms of batting under all conditions and situations in T20s.

All-rounders (Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar)

Hardik Pandya had a game-changing ODI series against Australia as he was awarded the man of the series award for his all-round performance. He would yet again be the player to watch out for in the T20I series. India finds the perfect balance with a couple of all-rounders with their abilities with both and ball.

Hardik would ideally have to play the role of a pinch hitter and would have to bowl the majority of his 4-over quota. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been lethal against Australia at powerplays and death.

Bowlers (Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah)

The cricket pundits have tagged the current Indian bowling as the strongest after a long long time. The good work done by the bowlers is making it easy for the batsman to chase down the totals or defend totals. The Indians have found a couple of limited over specialists in the wrist spin of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.

Chahal has embarrassed Glenn Maxwell by making him his bunny on the present tour. Bumrah, along with Bhuvi, is lethal during the death, which means India is well endowed during the middle and death overs. The only the way the bowling department can be criticised is by blaming them of giving few many at the start.