After a long gap of two years, the men in blue have arrived in Australia for a 3-match T20I series beginning from Wednesday at Gabba, Brisbane. Ahead of the series opener, home skipper Aaron Finch has reckoned the shortest format will be their best chance to challenge an upbeat India in the absence of leading batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner.
Finch said that the shortest format allows the hosts to be aggressive and more competitive against a strong Indian side.
“Although we lost to Pakistan in the UAE, we are a very good T20 side. I think we played some good cricket in Zimbabwe and before that in the tri-series against New Zealand and England last year. We are very confident in this format,” Finch said.
“India have been in great form in all formats over a long time now. But it is going to be a great opportunity for us to come out, play aggressively and express ourselves. We can take the game on and really try to take it to India.”
The first match will be played at the Gabba. The T20 Internationals will be followed by a four-match Test series and three ODIs.
“T20s are fast-paced short games obviously. At times it can take one bit of brilliance with bat or ball, or even in the field, and it can change the dynamics of the match or even the whole series. So it is a great advantage to be able to start off against India in this format. They have been so dominant in this format that people forget where they are playing at times,” he added.
Australia fielded an all-pace attack in their one-off T20I against South Africa on Saturday. That is expected to change with a lone spinner to come to the playing eleven.
“That will be in the calculations. With the size of this ground and how good our spinners have bowled here, while they haven't been huge wicket-takers, they have bowled well. We have options in Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa.
“Traditionally, there is pace and bounce in this wicket. Indian batsmen have been here before, so there isn't an element of surprise with the amount of cricket being played nowadays. But we will still look to use it to our advantage. The boundaries are bigger here than in India, and it could alter strategies,” Finch said.
Finch said that it didn't make a difference to their preparations and that Australia are still a side that is desperate to win.
“We're still intense and desperate to win and we are going about that the right way. Playing hard is the Australian way but to different people that means different things. It's not all about verbal and things like that,” added Finch.