Just a few days after having played a roller-coaster of a World Cup final, India will take on Australia in the first match of a five-game T20I series at the ACA VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Australia, who will stay back in India after the World Cup. Now they will look to humiliate the hosts even further by beating them in this format. India, who lost the World Cup final and broke a million hearts, will look to make amends, but it will not be easy for them.
Even if they do so, they cannot make up for the loss in the final. India were highly favoured to win the World Cup because they played it on home soil, but Australia came from behind to shock them. Both teams will have new-look teams for this T20I series; it will be interesting to see which side wins.
The track in Visakhapatnam is supposed to be a belter of a batting surface with some spin later on, and the side that reads the conditions better will be able to get ahead. India will feel that they can come back from the heartbreak they suffered on Sunday and look to establish a new cycle of playing positive cricket.
Probable Playing XIs
India: Ruturaj Gayakwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Prasidh Krishna.
Australia: Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Steve Smith, Matthew Wade (c), Glenn Maxwell, Tim David, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson, Nathan Ellis, Sean Abbott.
Key Players
Tilak Varma: Young Tilak Varma, who impressed in his T20I debut against the West Indies earlier this year, will be one of the players to watch in this series. The southpaw, known to play explosive shots in the middle order, can take on both spinners and seamers and will be a real thorn in Australia's flesh owing to his excellent footwork.
Travis Head: Who else but Travis Head? The hero for Australia in the World Cup final, Head knows a thing or two about the Indian bowlers by now. Opening the batting, he will hope to stamp his authority on the opposition and continue in the same vein of form. Head's versatility in the crease works wonders for him, and he plans to do the same on Thursday.
Match Prediction
India appears to be the overwhelming favourites to win this game despite losing the World Cup final to the same opposition a few days ago. Although both teams sport new-look sides, the home team are expected to prevail over their opponents.
Australia's lineup includes some outstanding limited-overs cricketers. The team hopes to impress its porters back home in the Land Down. However, India are expected to win this game quite comfortably.