What happened the last time India played Australia in a T20I in India?
The T20 fever kicks in once again as Team India and Australia are set to collide against each other in a five-match T20I series. The first game of the series will be played at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Thursday, November 23.
India and Australia have locked horns across 26 T20Is, with the Men in Blue winning 15 of those matches. Australia have won 10 of those encounters, while one match in 2018 ended in a no result.
The head-to-head record in T20Is in India, however, poses a tighter reading. Across the 10 T20Is played in India, the hosts have won six games, with Australia winning the remaining.
The last time India hosted Australia for a T20I was in September 2022. It was the series-deciding game played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad. India clinched the match and won the series 2-1.
After opting to bowl first, India received some hammering from the bat of Cameron Green. The talented all-rounder went berserk from the word go, racing to 50 off just 19 balls. He batted at a strike rate of 247.62 and smoked seven fours and three sixes.
Axar Patel sent back Australian skipper Aaron Finch (7) before Bhuvneshwar Kumar's brilliant slower ball ended the blistering knock from Green. Right after dismissing Finch, India tightened the screws and took six wickets while giving away just 73 runs.
Axar, in particular, was mighty impressive, finishing with 3/33 in his four overs. At 117/6, Team India were well on top of the Aussies before Tim David's brilliant knock of 54 (off 27) took the visitors to 186/7 in the first innings.
Chasing 187, India got off to a disappointing start as KL Rahul top-edged one to the wicket-keeper in the opening over. Rohit Sharma hit a few impressive boundaries but could not convert his start and was holed out for 17.
![Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli were involved in a match-winning partnership [Getty Images]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2023/11/a98bd-17007302328148-1920.jpg?w=500)
Virat Kohli, with his typical authoritative drives, ensured India ended the powerplay on a high, at 50/2. Kohli, alongside Suryakumar Yadav, stitched together a match-winning partnership of 104 runs in just 68 balls.
The two put up an exhibition of outstanding strokeplay and put the Aussie bowlers under extreme pressure. Using the angles and gaps to his advantage, Suryakumar clobbered five boundaries and as many sixes to notch up his fifty in just 29 balls.
He was out on 69 before Kohli completed his half-century in 37 balls. India needed 11 off the last over when Kohli and Hardik Pandya were in the middle.
Kohli hit a magnificent six off the very first ball but was out on the next delivery for 63. Daniel Sams gave away only one run in the next two balls before Pandya (25*) finished the chase with a streaky boundary on the penultimate ball.
Suryakumar, who made a superb 69 off 36 balls, was adjudged as the Player of the Match.
"It can't be you wake up next morning and forget everything," Suryakumar Yadav on difficulty to move on after India's crushing loss in the ODI World Cup final
![Suryakumar Yadav will captain India in the T20Is vs Australia [Getty Images]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2023/11/fb575-17007301847875-1920.jpg)
Just 96 hours after India's gut-wrenching defeat against Australia in the ODI World Cup 2023 final, the Men in Blue have a five-match T20I assignment on their hands.
Suryakumar Yadav, who will captain India in the absence of Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya, attended the pre-match press conference on Wednesday (November 22).
When asked about the ill-fated summit clash against Australia, Suryakumar voiced that it is extremely tough to move on from the defeat, that too, in just a few days time. Uttering that India would've loved to win the recently concluded ODI World Cup, Suryakumar said:
"It is difficult it will take time, it can't be that you wake up next morning and you forget everything what happened. It was a long tournament. We would have loved to win it."
The 33-year-old continued:
"But as you get up in the morning the sun rises again, there is light at the end of the tunnel. You have to move on. It is a fresh team (T20 squad), really looking forward to the challenge."
India lost the ODI World Cup 2023 final against the Men in Yellow by six wickets in Ahmedabad on November 19.