Indian team will be aiming to lock in the last couple of available slots in their England-bound World Cup squad, when they square off with familiar foes Australia in a limited overs series starting with the first T20 on Sunday. Skipper Kohli is back after a well-deserved three-week break and will be keeping a keen eye on the likes of Rishabh Pant and Vijay Shankar, two players who are strongly tipped to make the elite list.
Having edged out Dinesh Karthik in the ODI side in the race to the World Cup, Pant will get a few more chances to make a strong case for himself. For Vijay Shankar, it will be a great opportunity to make his case even stronger in the absence of Hardik Pandya, who is out with his recurring lower back injury.
The Aaron Finch-led side may not have played T20Is since their last series against India three months back, but they are fresh from their extended Big Bash League with six players including the skipper featuring in the all-Melbourne final on February 17.
Player of the Tournament D’Arcy Short played 15 BBL games this season for Hobart Hurricanes scoring 637 runs at 53.08 average (140.61 strike rate). He was followed by competition leading wicket-taker Kane Richardson who topped the bowling aggregate with 24 at 17.70 (economy rate 7.75). The dynamic left-handed opener Short will look to correct his stats on the turning pitches and relaunch his career giving them a good start.
India probable playing XI: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni (wk), Krunal Pandya, Vijay Shankar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Sidharth Kaul.
Australia probable playing XI: Aaron Finch (C), D’Arcy Short, Pat Cummins, Alex Carey, Jason Behrendorff, Peter Handscomb, Usman Khawaja, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa.
FPJ’s dream 11 prediction: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Aaron Finch, Pat Cummins, D’Arcy Short, MS Dhoni, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Jhye Richardson, Marcus Stoinis.
With PTI Inputs
