India vs Australia 2019: 3 things India need to do to win the T20I series
The Indian home series against Australia is nearly upon us, with the first T20I set to take place on the 24th of February at Visakhapatnam. The Indians enter the series high on confidence after emerging from Australia with a spotless record.
A few days ago, the selectors announced the team for the series and there weren’t many surprises. The likes of Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah made their return to the fold whereas Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav were accorded some much needed rest.
Historically, the Indians have enjoyed the wood over their counterparts from the southern hemisphere in the shortest format, and boast of an 11-6 advantage in the head to head. However, beating an Aussie side comprising of Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch and Pat Cummins is easier said than done.
Through the course of this article, we take a look at three aspects the hosts would need to master to overcome the Australians.
#3. Pick early wickets
The Aussies have endured an opening merry-go-round ever since David Warner infamously grazed his reputation in ‘sandpaper gate’. However, for the series in India, the Australians might possess a couple of exciting options to partner Aaron Finch in D’Arcy Short and Marcus Stoinis.
The pair have been in scintillating form, and look primed to carry their momentum into the T20 series. Finch, on the other hand, has been sub-standard recently, but he remains the Aussies’ best T20 batsman.
Hence, it is clear that the visitors’ strength lies in their top order, and India need to pull out all the stops to nip them in a bud.
With Bumrah back in the mix the hosts would hope for the pacer to make early inroads, while Umesh Yadav is also a viable option on the abrasive Indian wickets.
Yet, India’s most potent weapon in the opening overs could be the left-arm spin of Krunal Pandya. None of Australia’s openers are too comfortable starting against spin; all of them struggle to get going when faced with slow bowling early in the innings.
India have plenty of options to attack the Aussies at the start. And while they have some splendid bowlers to handle the middle phases, one just gets the feeling that if India rattle the visitors at the top, victory would be much easier to achieve.