India vs Australia preview: SKY-led Men in Blue eye fresh start after World Cup heartbreak as focus shifts to T20Is

Sunday’s World Cup final in Ahmedabad marked the culmination of a journey spanning years for both India and Australia, which ended with a clinical Australian victory that took their title count to six.

Just four days later, the two teams lock horns in Visakhapatnam in the first of five T20Is, the first international game since the summit clash, which will mark the beginning of another journey. That of the road to next year’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the United States.

The T20I series is the final leg of Australia’s long tour of India that will exceed the two-month mark by the time it comes to an end, and will give the visitors little time to celebrate their sixth ODI world title. For the Indians, however, the series is a chance to bury the disappointment of falling short of an ICC title yet again and focus on the road ahead under a different leadership.

Chance for SKY to redeem himself

Suryakumar Yadav is a superstar in the shortest format both in internationals as well as in the Indian Premier League, mainly due to his ability to hit the most outrageous of shots against the best of attacks that has rightfully earned him the moniker ‘Mr 360’.

It is also well-documented at this point that SKY hasn’t exactly set the stage on fire in the 50-over format the way he has in the 20-over game, and the same was evident in the ICC World Cup.

In a tournament where the Indian top five had been bossing opposition attacks like they were mere bowling machines, the Mumbai Indians star could only muster 106 runs in seven outings at an average of 17.66 after coming in as a replacement for the injured Hardik Pandya. And 49 of those runs came in a single 47-ball innings, albeit on a tough wicket at Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium.

SKY had a chance to redeem himself in the final when he was the last recognised batter out at the centre and India were struggling badly in the second half of the innings. Instead, he was dismissed for a disappointing 18 off 28 deliveries, and India ended up getting bowled out for 240.

Surya, is now tasked with the responsibility of leading the young Indian outfit in this series with Pandya, who had injured his ankle during the group match against Bangladesh in Pune and might miss a substantial part of the South Africa tour as well. And this presents him the opportunity to lead from the front and set an example to some of the younger members of the India squad who will be playing under his leadership.

Also looking to return to scoring big runs will be wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan, one of the few members of the World Cup squad who have been included in the squad that was announced on Monday night. Kishan played the first two games of the World Cup in place of Shubman Gill, who had been recovering from dengue, and collected 47 runs including a duck against Australia.

Shreyas Iyer and Prasidh Krishna are the other members of the World Cup squad who will be seen in action later in this series, though the former will join the side only for the fourth and fifth matches. All-rounder Axar Patel had also been named for the mega-event, but missed out due to a left quadriceps injury.

Focus on the future

Redemption, however, will mainly be for the senior. A majority of the side comprises youngsters that the current Indian team management as well as the selectors believe could form the core of the team in the years to come.

That includes Ruturaj Gaikwad, another wicketkeeping option in the team besides Kishan and Jitesh Sharma who had captained the Men in Blue in the Hangzhou Asian Games before the World Cup. Gaikwad has been named Surya’s deputy in the first three matches of the series before handing the responsibility to Iyer.

India’s top-order for instance, will likely feature Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal as the openers, with Kishan likely to take over the No 3 spot. Depending on the combination, the middle-order might comprise either of Rinku Singh and Tilak Varma alongside skipper Surya with Jitesh Sharma coming further down the order as the wicketkeeper-batter before moving into the all-rounders and the tailenders.

The selectors also dropped a major hint with regards to their choice of wrist spinner heading into next year’s T20 World Cup by picking Ravi Bishnoi over the experienced Yuzvendra Chahal, who might just miss out on another ICC event next year after being overlooked for the World Cup in October and November.

Read | India vs Australia: Chahal, Samson’s omissions raise eyebrows

Bishnoi will likely share the load of bowing the middle overs alongside one of Washington Sundar and Axar Patel, two finger-spin-bowling all-round options.

And the bowling unit might just be the least experienced of all departments, with Prasidh Krishna and left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh the senior-most in pace unit that also includes Avesh Khan and Mukesh Kumar, who had a breakthrough run in the Caribbean earlier this summer.

Aussies go near-full strength

Australia, however, have decided to retain a majority of the players that were part of their triumphant World Cup campaign that had begun on a rocky note with back-to-back defeats.

The spotlight, of course, will fall on one Travis Head, who will be taking guard on Thursday at the ACA-VDCA Stadium just four days after smashing a magnificent 137 off 120 deliveries against the Men in Blue, rescuing his team from a perilous position and shattering a billion hearts in the process.

It will be business as usual for him and David Warner, who had also been in roaring form during the tournament and finished the highest run-scorer among the Aussies with 535 runs.

The other World Cup winners picked for the T20Is are Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Adam Zampa, Marcus Stoinis and Sean Abbott. Pacer Pat Cummins, who had masterminded his team’s journey to a record-extending sixth world title, has been given a breather as have pace colleagues Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

Mitchell Marsh, who had been named T20I captain for the tour of South Africa before the World Cup and is considered an ideal candidate to take over leadership in both white-ball formats, has also been given a break after his exploits in the World Cup.

Matthew Wade, who had been part of the side that won the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE under Aaron Finch’s leadership, will be leading the Aussies in the five-match series, but will also be hoping to make an impact both with the bat as well as behind the stumps.

Wade, after all, faces competition to from Josh Inglis, who had replaced Alex Carey as Australia’s wicketkeeper-batter in the middle of the World Cup campaign and has been impressive ever since, scoring a crucial 28 against South Africa in the second semi-final.

The upcoming series could be a direct shootout between these two to decide who dons the wicketkeeping gloves in the build-up to next year’s mega event.

Squads:

India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vc), Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.

Australia: Matthew Wade (c), Jason Behrendorff, Sean Abbott, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa.