With an eight-wicket win against Australia at the ICCA Dubai. India has now made it two in two in their ICC T20 World Cup 2021 warm-up games. The win had quite the takeaways even as Virat Kohli sat out the side’s chase of 153.
Australia was crushed to 11 for 3 after electing to bat first, with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja dismissing the top three batsmen in double-quick time. Steven Smith (57) and Glenn Maxwell (37) were tasked with steadying the ship after David Warner (1), Aaron Finch (8), and Mitchell Marsh (0) all failed to make an impact.
However, Marcus Stoinis’ willow (41* off 25; 4 x 4, 1 x 6) did the death-overs damage as Australia finished with a modest 152/5. India responded with a good start, similar to the one they had against England, with KL Rahul (39) and Rohit Sharma (60 retired) setting the tone for the chase.
Suryakumar Yadav
Therefore, Suryakumar Yadav made amends for his last game’s failure with a tidy 27-ball-38, and he was joined by Hardik Pandya (14), who also appears to have recovered his rhythm.
However, We take a look at three things we learned from Australia’s warm-up win. Ahead of their T20 World Cup start against Pakistan on Sunday (October 24).
#1 Will India field R Ashwin in the playing XI?
Ravichandran Ashwin returned to form for India in the second game, taking 2/8 against Australia after going wicketless in the warm-up match against England with 0/23 from four overs.
As a result, India may have decided to play one of their spinners in the starting XI. While Ravindra Jadeja’s inclusion can be questioned, it remains to be seen whether India would use both of their tweakers. If that’s the case, Rahul Chahar will be the one to miss the game.
#2 There was an improved bowling performance
However, Marcus Stoinis did what Moeen Ali did on Monday. However, the damage this time was borne by Varun Chakravarthy and Shardul Thakur who had economic rates of 11.50 and 10.00 respectively.
#3 Who will be India’s top 4?
The first three positions will be filled by KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli. That leaves the No. 4 slot up for grabs between Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan. The two players who have shown promise in the warm-up games. Three things we learned
With Kishan’s addition, India now has two left-handed batters and three right-handed batters (assuming Jadeja finds a place). It will be difficult to choose between Kishan and Yadav, who are both newcomers to the team.
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