The Indian team led by Virat Kohli will be looking to end the three-match T20I series against Australia on a winning note with the two sides all set to battle it out in the final T20I at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Sunday.
The second T20I at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Friday was abandoned after incessent rain played truant, in a clash dominated by the Indian bowlers.
The bowling attack delivered an efficient performance, following skipper Virat Kohli’s decision to field first.
Australia were restricted to a total of just 133/7, following tidy bowling spells by Indian pace bowlers- Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who picked two wickets apiece.
They were further backed by an excellent performance from the fielders, who were inch-perfect with their throws and capitalised on any opportunities handed by their opponents.
However, the Indian chase never really kicked off after constant delay caused due to rainfall resulted in the match being called off, robbing India of an opportunity to win the series.
Australian fast-bowler Mitchell Starc has been drafted into the T20 squad for the final clash of the three-match T20I series against India as a replacement for Billy Stanlake.
Indian opener Rohit Sharma, who needs just 57 runs to surpass Martin Guptill as the highest run-scorer in T20I cricket, will be the man to watch out for.
As far as the Playing XI is concerned, Krunal Pandya is expected to make way for Yuzvendra Chahal in a vital tie as the sole change. Australia, on the other hand will be looking to drop opener D Arcy Short who has been poor so far, in favour of a worthy replacement.
