India will square off against Australia in the first T20I on Wednesday at the Gabba
Indian cricket team is all set to lock horns against the Australian team in the first T20I on Wednesday at The Gabba in Brisbane.
Skipper Virat Kohli will return to the team after a short rest in the recently concluded T20I series against world champions West Indies where the host won 3-0 under Rohit Sharma's leadership.
The Australian team on the other hand, suffered a 21-run loss at the hands of South Africa in a rain-curtailed encounter, to succumb to their sixth loss in eight games. The Kangaroos were also whitewashed 0-3 in the UAE by top-ranked Pakistan.
Men in Blue will hold the psychological advantage of winning all the seven T20I series played since November 2017, and their last defeat in the shortest format of the game came against the West Indies last year.
The Aussie side will look to seek some redemption after their successive losses and they have a quality side which can trouble the Indian team in pace and bouncy situation.
What to expect:
India have already announced their 12-man shortlist ahead of the opening encounter, with Manish Pandey, Washington Sundar, Shreyas Iyer and Umesh Yadav being the exclusions. So, it will be a choice between Yuzvendra Chahal and Krunal Pandya and there are very high probabilities that Virat Kohli might go with Krunal Pandya to deepen the batting line up.
Match Predictions:
India will enter the match as favourites considering their previous record in T20I cricket this year, but Australia have an explosive team, which can turn the tables very quickly. It will be a cracker of a contest between the two super powers of cricket.
Predicted Playing XI of India and Australia in 1st T20I:
India: Virat Kohli (C), Rishabh Pant (WK), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, K Khaleel Ahmed
Australia: Aaron Finch (C), Alex Carey (WK), D' Arcy Short, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Andrew Tye, Jason Behrendorff, Billy Stanlake, Ashton Agar
