IND vs AUS 1st T20I Preview: Suryakumar Yadav in for stern test as India start preparations for T20 World Cup

After a gruelling World Cup 2023 campaign, India and Australia are all set to lock horns in a five-match T20I series, starting November 23.

The Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam will host the opening game of the series. Suryakumar Yadav, who is set to become India’s 13th skipper in T20Is, said that he wants the Men in Blue to play fearless cricket without taking any sort of pressure.

India do not have a number of their key stars, including the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli and others for the series. Youngsters in the form of Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Arshdeep Singh have a great chance of showing their mettle.

The series marks the beginning of India’s preparations for the T20 World Cup to be held next year in the Caribbean and the United States of America (USA).

Australia, in the meantime, will be resting quite a few of their players who took part in the World Cup. Matthew Wade, who is leading the team in the absence of Pat Cummins, talked about keeping players after a hectic campaign in the mega event.

He also said that Travis Head is unsure of playing in the series opener. Wade mentioned that the Aussies wouldn’t be putting the southpaw under any sort of pressure.

Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Spencer Johnson, Aaron Hardie and Jason Behrendorff are some of the players who might be seen taking the field on Thursday in Vizag.

Head to Head
Matches – 26 | India – 15 | Australia – 10 | N/R – 1

In India

Matches – 10 | India – 6 | Australia – 4 | N/R – 0

Probable XIs
India

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan/Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar/Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan

Australia

Matthew Short, Matthew Wade (WK), Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Tim David, Aaron Hardie, Nathan Ellis, Sean Abbott, Tanveer Sangha, Spencer Johnson, Jason Behrendorff.