3 changes India should make for the 4th T20I vs Australia
Team India currently hold a 2-1 advantage in the five-match T20I series against Australia. With the visitors making quite a few changes to their squad ahead of the last two matches, the Men in Blue will be confident of coming out on top in the assignment.
Suryakumar Yadav will have a couple of players to call upon for the fourth T20I who weren't available in the previous game. While Shreyas Iyer has joined the squad as vice-captain after missing out on the first three games, Mukesh Kumar, who was absent for the third T20I, is also expected to be available.
Shreyas and Mukesh are in line to feature on Friday, December 1, but they aren't the only tweaks the hosts could make to their XI.
India’s squad: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, 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, Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain).
Here are three changes India should make for the fourth T20I against Australia.
#3 Deepak Chahar for Arshdeep Singh
Deepak Chahar was added as a cover for Mukesh Kumar in the third T20I, and while the latter is back too, the fast-bowling all-rounder could be given a chance to impress in Raipur.
Chahar has been picked in India's white-ball squad for the upcoming South Africa tour, and the selectors clearly have an eye on his new-ball pedigree and all-round capabilities. Arshdeep Singh, who has taken the new ball and bowled at the death in the series so far, has been far from impressive.
India are bound to run out of patience with Arshdeep soon, and Chahar could replace him in the fourth T20I. This would leave the hosts without one of their two frontline death bowlers, so they would also have to do...
#2 Mukesh Kumar for Prasidh Krishna
Prasidh Krishna dished out the most expensive spell by an Indian bowler in the history of T20Is in the last game. It would be a miracle if he retains his place in the side for Friday's contest, especially when considering the fact that he has been woefully expensive in all three games so far.
Prasidh has also lost his place in the white-ball setup for the South Africa tour, and it's clear that his limited-overs game needs quite a bit of work. The same was thought of Mukesh, but the 30-year-old has managed to come up with some encouraging displays in the recent past.
Mukesh has been able to hit his yorkers well and has been India's best seamer on display in the T20I series thus far despite playing just two games. He will look to continue in the same vein on Friday.
#1 Shreyas Iyer for Tilak Varma
There are many ways in which India can fit the returning Shreyas Iyer in their playing XI for the fourth T20I. While none of them are ideal, the best course of action could be to drop Tilak Varma.
Tilak has been batting out of position at No. 5 and hasn't been able to adapt to the role so far. He played a painstaking innings in the previous game and failed to deliver in the opening T20I as well. The youngster hasn't been used with the ball either.
Shreyas coming in would mean that either Ishan Kishan or Suryakumar Yadav has to bat at No. 5, but India don't have many other choices at their disposal.