Stung by a narrow loss in the opening encounter, India will like to reassess their playing combination while aiming for a swift turn-around when they take on Australia in the second T20I in Melbourne on Friday.
The hosts took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, which comprise three back-to-back matches in a short span of five days. Rain is the forecast in Melbourne on the day of the second T20I between India and Australia and that might lead to some changes in the playing XI for the visitors. With the Australians struggling against the wrist spin of Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal might be drafted into the playing XI.
India succumbed to their first defeat in a T20 International in a span of more than 15 months as Australia beat them by 4 runs in the first of the three-match series. MCG boasts of massive boundaries which effectively means batsmen will need to put in the extra effort to hit the spinners out of the park. Hence, Washington Sundar could also make the cut in place of Khaleel Ahmed. With KL Rahul looking out of sorts, Manish Pandey is another player who could slot into the team to provide solidity to the middle order.
India: Virat Kohli (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Washington Sundar.
Australia: Aaron Finch (capt), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Ben McDermott, Glenn Maxwell, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.
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