India vs Australia | India’s Predicted XI for the first T20I in Vizag

Openers

Middle-order

Rishabh Pant: That India picked him ahead of fairly-successful Dinesh Karthik in the ODI series speaks volume about the trust that the team management has in him. While he has partly been successful in living up to the reputation with some clean hitting, his lack of game and situation awareness resulted in India losing the plot often.

MS Dhoni: The year 2019 has seen the third wind in MS Dhoni’s career and his reinvention made sure that the country sleeps peacefully now despite the fragility of the middle-overs. The wicket-keeper batsman is as uncanny as ever behind the stumps and despite not being able to strike the jackpot right away with the bat, he is good enough to launch the assault. 

Vijay Shankar: He is the dark horse in the league and no one realised how smoothly Vijay Shankar has made a transition from India’s national villain to be in the plans for the World Cup. In the absence of Hardik Pandya, he will have another opportunity to showcase his prowess and success in that can never rule out the chances of making it to the playing XI in England in June.

Krunal Pandya: The senior Pandya is the ideal prototype of a T20 all-rounder and has always been up to the task - be it batting, or bowling, or fielding. By never shying from whatever being asked of him, Krunal has given the team a happy headache. It will be only good for the Indian cricket that he keeps on doing the same things in the future as well.

Jasprit Bumrah: And he will be back! India had rested their premier pacer for the entire limited-overs tour after the Australia Test series and now, Bumrah will return to lead the pace-bowling unit, in the absence of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. For the Gujarat pacer, it is always about rhythm and once he finds that tomorrow, it will be very hard for the visitors to stop him.

Umesh Yadav: There is a problem with Umesh Yadav and India need to address this sooner than later. He is extremely good when there is a bit of reverse swing on offer but often failed that count in other situations. So how much he can contribute is a matter of question, but India won’t have many choices.

Yuzvendra Chahal: Chahal took six wickets in the deciding ODI in Melbourne when he switched places with Kuldeep Yadav and he will carry the New Zealand momentum on his return to India. The leggie has always preferred Australia as his favourite opponents and his variations are too good for flat Indian surfaces too. 

Mayank Markande: In the absence of Kuldeep Yadav, don’t be surprised if India hand over the spin duties to Mayank Markande. The young Punjab spinner was impressive in the last IPL, making MS Dhoni suffer to no end, and his short height coupled with that high-arm flipper can cause problems for the Aussies.