India vs Australia - 2nd T20I - Match Preview

India vs Australia - 2nd T20I - Match Preview

After conquering the mighty Aussies in their own backyard, the whole world believed that it would be a cakewalk for the Men in Blue when the Australians come here for the two-match T20I series and a five-match ODI series.

Virender Sehwag was seen saying in an advertisement for the series – ‘Kahin woh humaare iraadon par paani na pherdein’ and it seems the Kangaroos have already been successful in staging an upset by winning the opening game of the Twenty20 International series.

After upsetting India in the series, both the teams will now travel to Bengaluru for the second and final T20I of the series, which is scheduled to take place tomorrow. When the two sides will meet in Bengaluru, they will go into the match with their agendas. For the Kangaroos, a win in this game will give them a historic Twenty20 International series win in India.

The home side will, on the contrary, be looking to overturn the 1-0 deficit which stares at them to save the series.  After an amazing first T20 game, one that went down till the very last ball, the Australians would be reeling with confidence and will look to have a thumping victory in the second game too. The second game promises to be another thrilling affair.

The hosts need to work on all the aspects of the game. The middle-order failed once again and the onus of scoring runs was on Rohit Sharma. But the vice-captain could not do much in the first match and got dismissed at the score of 5. If India needs to win the match, the hitman has to come back in the form and play a blistering knock to give the Men in Blue a strong foundation. Meanwhile, it is yet to be seen if Shikhar Dhawan would be brought back into the team for the final game.

Lokesh Rahul was given a chance in the first game and played a crucial knock of 50 in the first game but threw away his wicket at an important time. Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who got a start in the first game but could not convert it into a big inning, has to to be at his ultimate best at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium. Though, his form at this venue has not been good.

India will also look towards Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, and MS Dhoni to come good in the final game.

Meanwhile, in the bowling department. Jasprit Bumrah will once again take the center stage here. By picking up 3 wickets in the first game, he became the second Indian bowler to take 50 wickets in the Twenty20 Internationals. Will India give chance to Siddharth Kaul in this match? We still have to see if Umesh Yadav will be in the playing XI tomorrow as he was unable to save 14 runs in the final over of the first T20I.

On the other hand, the Australians will look to work on their batting. The likes of Glenn Maxwell and D’Arcy Short played really crucial knocks in Visakhapatnam to take their team home. But, the Aussies have the same problem of a ‘troubled’ middle-order just like the Men in Blue. Players like Ashton Turner, skipper Aaron Finch, and Peter Handscomb would have the responsibility to make runs in the middle overs to take their side to a match-winning total.

All the eyes would be on skipper Finch as he would look to better his record in the final game of the series by playing a thunderous knock. His last 4 innings have been disastrous. He has accumulated 55 runs in 4 matches, which includes 2 ‘Golden Ducks’.

All-rounder Marcus Stoinis is another name that Australia will be relying on. Stoinis, who opened the batting for the team in the first game, has to give them a strong foundation by scoring some quick runs, just like he did in this year’s Big Bash League.  

Australia’s bowling unit is in top-form with the likes of Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, and Adam Zampa churning out wickets at the most crucial parts of the game. 

22-year-old youngster Jhye Richardson will also look to better his performance in the upcoming game as he was a little bit expensive in Visakhapatnam.

Both the sides will look to play at their best to topple each other. Aussies will be going hard for the win whereas India will be looking to save themselves from a series defeat.

THE GAME IS ON!

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