Bangalore: With the focus firmly on the 50-over World Cup in England in May, India would be desperate to ensure that a home series does not slip out of their grip when they take on Australia in the second and final T20I here Wednesday.
The Men in Blue are currently 0-1 down after an inexplicably poor batting performance led to a three-wicket loss in the lung-opener in Visakhapatnam. Though the Jasprit Bumrah-led attack did all to keep a chack till the final over but Aussie tailenders Jhye Richardson and Pat Cummins ensured their side home in the final delivery of the match.
India rested opener Shikhar Dhawan to give game time to KL Rahul, who grabbed the opportunity with both hands by smashing 50 off 36 balls in his comeback game. However, it remains to be seen whether Dhawan will brought back into the side to open alongside Rohit Sharma or the team retains the opening combination which featured in Vizag.
While Bumrah showed his class after coming back from a break, and Umesh Yadav leaking 14 runs in the final over to concede the game the management could replace Umesh with Siddharth Kaul or bring in all-rounder Vijay Shankar to beef-up the batting department.
All eyes will once again also be on former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who struggled to an unbeaten 29 off 37 balls as India managed 126/7 in the first game.
Debutant leg-spinner Mayank Markande (0/31 in four overs) did not pick up a wicket but bowled well according to skipper Virat Kohli. The 21-year-old might get another game.
On the other hand the Kangaroos, will be fancying a rare series win against India in recent times, especially after losing the Test and ODI series at home to Kohli’s team.
They might have won the game but made a mess of the 127-run target after cruising at one stage and the Aaron Finch-led side would like to improve on that aspect.
Finch, personally would love to be back among the runs and the team will be expecting another blinder from Glenn Maxwell, who hit 56 off 43 deliveries in Vizag.
