Rain might play spoilsport in the first T20I between India and Australia slated to be played at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Thursday, November 23. Both teams are gearing up for the clash and have some fresh legs who are raring to go as the five-match-long series gets underway after the recently culminated 50-over extravaganza.
Australia will be led by Matthew Wade in the absence of Mitchell Marsh who led them in their last bilateral T20I series against South Africa in South Africa. In addition to Marsh, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood among other senior players are also not going to feature in the series which presents the recently crowned ODI world champions an opportunity to test their bench strength.
On the other hand, India have designated a new leader for the series in Suryakumar Yadav and he has already made it clear that the hosts will aim to play fearless cricket during the course of the next 12 days. The Men in Blue are also heading into the bilateral contest with several young guns who were a part of the side that clinched the Asiad gold in Hangzhou, China in October.
Visakhapatnam weather report for Thursday, November 23
However, as per Accuweather, the American media company that provides commercial weather forecasting services around the world, there is a 60% chance of showers on Thursday in Visakhapatnam. The ground staff is already taking precautionary measures and has covered the square and the outfield ahead of the clash.
Australia squad:
Travis Head, Matthew Short, Steven Smith, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade(w/c), Sean Abbott, Adam Zampa, Nathan Ellis, Jason Behrendorff, Tanveer Sangha, Kane Richardson, Aaron Hardie
India squad:
Ishan Kishan(w), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Mukesh Kumar, Washington Sundar, Avesh Khan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Jitesh Sharma
