The last T20I against Australia in Sydney is going to be the toughest nut to crack for Kohli & Co. Not because of the team or player’s form but, the Australian drizzling which has been playing the mood-spoiler for the visitors and the uncountable Indian cricket fans. The match at Brisbane broke a million hearts and the Melbourne affair left us frustrated. And now the contingent has reached in Sydney for the last face-off of the T20I and India has to win it at any cost.
A chance for India to maintain the record of not losing 8th Consecutive T20I series
Last time in Australia, back in 2016, India had won the T20I series with an unprecedented 3-0 margin. Rain though has played spoilsport with their chance of winning a second consecutive T20I series Down Under. Perhaps the only silver lining is that they still can maintain their unbeaten record in this format with a victory on Sunday.
In order to achieve this, India will like to carry on from where they left off in Melbourne. The surprisingly unchanged bowling attack put in a more disciplined performance as compared to their Brisbane outing, and both pacers and spinners were able to put the Australian batting order under constant pressure.
Given the situation, skipper Virat Kohli showed a surprising consistency in team selection and continued to back Krunal Pandya in the all-rounder guise. It remains to be seen if India will be tempted to play Chahal nevertheless if conditions do turn out to be drier than in Brisbane and Melbourne. The only option to do so is in leaving out Khaleel Ahmed then, who despite being a touch expensive in the first game has justified his selection thus far.
A few changes in the Australian side
Australian pacer Billy Stanlake, who twisted his ankle during pre-match warm-up on Friday, is slated to undergo a scan on Saturday. His s availability for Sunday's game thus is under doubt but the hosts haven't yet named an alternative with Nathan Coulter-Nile stepping in to take his spot in the side in the second T20I.
Weather is set to relent on Sunday and unless conditions are drier than anticipated, Aaron Finch has no reason to change his playing eleven.
His side now stands on the cusp of a surprise series' win against India, one thought inconceivable at the start of this week given the current turmoil in Australian cricket.
Teams:
India: Virat Kohli (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Washington Sundar
Australia: Aaron Finch (capt), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Ben McDermott, Glenn Maxwell, D'Arcy Short, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa