How can Australia stage a comeback to win the T20I series?

India annihilated Australia in the five-match ODI series 4-1 winning most of the games rather comfortably and didn’t allow them to come back. While the Indian juggernaut in ODIs continued, the struggle of the Aussies in the limited overs format has just increased this year. The world champions are no more the number 1 ranked side and have been pushed to the corner by most of the teams this year. Men in Blue, on the other hand, have become unbeatable in the format as they seem to have covered all the bases. The way series panned out was only the testament to the fact of how both sides are going in the opposite direction.

Australia couldn’t seize key moments in almost all games and their opposition capitalised. Every time they were in control of the game, someone or the other from the Indian line-up stood up and took his side over the line. The final ODI was the solitary game when India won comfortably without giving a sniff to the Australians.

However, the skipper Steve Smith insisted that he would love to return with a cup which means he is eyeing the 3-match T20I series starting this Saturday. While the hosts have kept more or less the same squad which played the 50-overs format, the visitors have tinkered their combination by drafting in the T20 specialists. They would need to be at their best to beat this Indian side as they would love to stamp their authority in the shortest format as well now. Here we bring you the ways in which Australia can stage a spirited comeback to win T20I series:

1. Capitalise the good starts

Apart from the first couple of ODIs, the openers Aaron Finch and David Warner provided their team with blazing starts. But the incapability of the middle order squandered those positions time and again by losing their wickets at the wrong time. During the T20 series, they have to find a way to score runs in the middle overs against the Indian tweakers and concentrate on not losing wickets in clumps. If they manage to keep the bowlers at bay, then they will have an opportunity to put the pressure on the hosts at the death and eke out as many as runs as possible.

2. Backup bowlers need to bowl well

Right through the One-Day series, the duo of Pat Cummins and Nathan Coulter-Nile bowled excellently with hostility and kept Indian batsmen on their toes. But the next set of bowlers like Marcus Stoinis, James Faulkner, Ashton Agar, Adam Zampa and to some extent Kane Richardson were unable to exert the same kind of pressure on them. So it is important now that the likes Daniel Christian and Moises Henriques who will be the most likely players to feature in the starting XI to sustain the pressure and pick wickets in the non-powerplay overs.

3. Surprise the opposition with change in tactics

India caught Smith and his men off-guard during the third ODI by promoting Hardik Pandya at number 4 when the game was in the balance. The move worked as the all-rounder blazed his way through to 70s and won the game for his team. But Australia did not even tinker with their batting line-up once as the norm followed at the top.

Glenn Maxwell was promoted only once that too after the openers had batted for almost 35 overs. During the T20Is, they should make sure their specialists of the format play maximum deliveries in order to churn maximum runs and put India under pressure. Maxwell coming ahead of Smith at 3 could be a great experiment as the all-rounder has been successful at the top whenever given the opportunity.

4. Take the Indian spinners out of the game

The wrist spinning duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal troubled the Aussies in all the matches of the ODI series. They need to find a way to score against them and put them under the pump. Importantly, if they are attacked early in their spell then they might force Virat Kohli to think of giving the ball to the part-timer which will open one end for them to stamp their authority on the game. But they also need to be careful that they don’t over attack and lose wickets at the key moments. They repeated the same mistakes during the ODIs and paid the price.

5. Scalp the Indian openers early

Every team thrives on the start provided by their openers, especially in the shortest formats. Apart from the first match in Chennai, the opening duo of Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma played calculative shots and added at least 50 runs without throwing their wickets away. The momentum was successfully carried ahead by the middle order batsmen. But once when they were put under pressure like in Bengaluru, they lost the game despite having MS Dhoni in the end. Hence to win the T20 series it’s important that they strike early in the powerplay and don’t allow them to score free runs.