IND vs AUS 5th T20I: With South Africa tour on the horizon, India look to maintain momentum in Bengaluru
The Indian team managed to keep their World Cup disappointment aside and bounced back.
In fine fashion to win the series against Australia before the final match on Sunday, December 3 in Bengaluru.
India showcased a formidable performance with bat and ball. After a rare blip during the third match in the series in Guwahati after some Glenn Maxwell brilliance, the hosts bounced back in the fourth match which was an even contest between bat and ball.
The fourth match of the series, played at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Raipur, was pivotal as India defended a total of 174 runs and won by 20 runs. The spin duo of Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi played a crucial role in this victory, with Patel taking three wickets for 16 runs and Bishnoi adding another scalp to his tally. Their efforts restricted the Australian side to 154 for 7.
The Indian team has reached Bengaluru and the final game will be played at the iconic Chinnaswamy stadium, a ground known for having matches that are high-scoring affairs.
However, for India, the time will be to focus on the bigger picture, which is the upcoming T20 World Cup next year.
Big picture: T20 World Cup 2024
India will be hoping to keep the momentum going heading into the ICC tournament as the number of T20I matches they will be playing is little. After the series against Australia is wrapped up, the three matches against South Africa will be the penultimate leg of their journey towards the World Cup in the Carribean and the USA.
After the T20Is with the Proteas ends on December 14, the Indian team’s next assignment would be the home series against Afghanistan, which begins a month later. This will be followed by the IPL, after which the World Cup gets underway.
With so little time for preparation for the next major ICC event, every game will count and this will be a perfect opportunity for India to sign off on the winning note with momentum on their side.
Suryakumar did hint at a few changes to the team in Bengaluru with his comments at Raipur.
“There will be changes in Bengaluru, but not sure what’s it,” said Suryakumar.
However, there could be a chance that the team management might stick to the same combination which won them the series in Raipur.
Australia will be looking to wrap up what has been an eventful few months and spoil India’s party before returning home and get ready for their series against Pakistan. They have been hamstrung with the withdrawal of some big names and not a lot of changes can be expected from them.
For the likes of Travis Head, it’s another chance to put himself in the window for a potential IPL 2024 deal.
India Predicted XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Deepak Chahar.
Australia Predicted XI: Travis Head, Josh Phillippe, Ben McDermott, Aaron Hardie, Tim David, Matthew Short, Matthew Wade (c&wk), Ben Dwarshius/Nathan Ellis, Jason Behrendorff, Chris Green, Tanveer Sangha.