IND v AUS 3rd T20I Preview: Hyderabad awaits the final showdown

After a spectacular ODI series, India outplayed the Aussies in the first T20I and got a mouth shutting reply from their counterparts in Guwahati. Australia were rampant across all departments in the second T20I and it had been a fairly long time since they put up a performance similar to this. An exciting finale at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium awaits as Friday will be the last assignment for the Kangaroos on this tour.

David Warner, who took up the captaincy duties from Steve Smith, has done a terrific job thus far and it’ll be a huge boost if his side wins this encounter. Jason Behrendorff‘s crackling spell was backed up by brilliant knocks from Travis Head and Moises Henriques and this was a much-needed impetus for their side.

India on the other side, wouldn’t be too flattered or worried with the fact that they were outplayed on the previous occasion. They back their strengths and on many occasions previously, the Indians made a terrific comeback after losing a game in such a fashion. So there’s no way the Indian contingent can be belittled as they have a barrage of match-winners who can turn the game on its head for fun.

Probable XI

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (C), Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Australia: David Warner (C), Aaron Finch, Moises Henriques, Travis Head, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine (wk), Jason Behrendorff, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa

Focus will be on

Rohit Sharma ( India) 

The Hitman has remained calm this T20I series and who knows, it might be the silence before the storm. He loves playing against the Aussies and his record against them justifies this fact. He failed to make a huge impact in the first two games, but the opposition will be wary of the threat which comes with Rohit. If he can settle in, Hyderabad usually provides good tracks for the batsmen and a huge total might well be on cards.

David Warner ( Australia)

Watch out for the reception David Warner is going to get when he comes out with his willow. He made Sunrisers Hyderabad a formidable force with his inspirational leadership and now he’ll be back here leading the Men in Yellow. His batting record has been significant here as well and it’ll be interesting to see if he can replicate any of his brilliant knocks from the IPL for his national side.

Playing combinations

India

As always, the two partners in crime Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan will embark the innings with skipper Kohli coming in at 3. Though Manish Pandey is in the side to take up number 4, MS Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya are always in the queue and we never know who Kohli sends in at that point in time.

Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav were treated a bit unusually the other day and it’ll be interesting to see how they reciprocate. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah have been terrific over the course of time and dropping them is getting difficult for the skipper. Pandya will be the fifth bowler with Jadhav as a trustworthy backup option.

Australia

David Warner and Aaron Finch will be opening the innings for the Kangaroos with Henriques coming in at number 3. Travis Head, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell and Tim Paine will be following next and it’s tough to understand why this batting line-up has been failing to amass big scores.

Behrendorff with the ball provided them the much-needed wickets in the power play and Andrew Tye’s experience in the format will be fairly handy as well. Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa and Stoinis are brilliant bowlers as well and they provide some solidarity to the middle overs. If needed, Maxwell and Henriques can roll their arm to great effect as well.

StatAttack

1- This is the first time a T20 International match will be hosted by Hyderabad.

2 – Only two batsmen in T20I cricket have struck centuries at Hyderabad and they both happen to be Australians (Warner in 2017 and Andrew Symonds in 2008).