Australia vs. India, 1st T20i: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview
Australia and India kick off their three-match Twenty20 series on Tuesday at the Adelaide Oval.
The two teams are fresh off the back of five one-dayers that saw bat completely dominate ball. They combined to score 3,159 runs, which is a new record in a bilateral series of five games or fewer, according to Bharath Seervi of ESPN Cricinfo.
India had five batsmen hit centuries, yet still ended up losing the series 4-1. They only avoided being swept courtesy of a record run chase in Sydney, as they reached a target of 331 in the fifth and final ODI.
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They can also take heart from Australia’s results in their only two T20 games in Adelaide—the hosts have suffered defeats against England (in 2011) and South Africa (in 2014) at the venue.
Date: Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016
Time: 6:08 p.m. local (7:38 a.m. GMT)
Venue: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
Live Stream and TV Info: Channel Nine (Australia), Sky Sport (New Zealand), Super Sport (South Africa), Star Sports (India), Sky Sports (UK), Sky Go (UK—subscription required)
Weather: According to AccuWeather.com, temperatures will hit a maximum of 19 degrees Celsius on a cloudy evening. Thankfully, though, there is no rain forecast to fall throughout the day.
Overview
After a long summer that has included Test series wins over New Zealand and West Indies, followed by one-day success against India, Australia heads into the final stretch of their home schedule.
However, that doesn’t mean they’re about to get a well-deserved break. Following on from the trio of T20 fixtures against India, they make the short trip to New Zealand to play three one-dayers and two Tests.
A three-match T20 series in South Africa is also scheduled for the start of March, with the short tour wedged into the calendar ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 in India later in the same month.
With a major international tournament looming on the horizon, Cricket Australia are keen not to burn out their best players. Test and ODI captain Steve Smith, along with opening batsman David Warner, will only feature in the first T20 in Adelaide (which happens to take place on Australia Day).
Australia will, however, be without Glenn Maxwell in Adelaide. Cricket Australia confirmed the batsman has flown home to rest a lingering hamstring injury.
Coach Darren Lehmann will also be missing. According to BBC Sport, he has been diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis, so batting coach Michael Di Venuto will take charge on a temporary basis.
Aaron Finch will skipper the hosts throughout the series with India, with the batsman leading a group that includes an interesting mix of the old and the new.
Batsman Travis Head and seam bowling pair Scott Boland and Andrew Tye could all make their debuts in the format, but the selectors have also turned back the clock in recalling paceman Shaun Tait and all-rounder Shane Watson.
Tait—who has not played international cricket since March 2011—intends to make the most of the opportunity, per ESPN Cricinfo: "I suppose I feel pretty privileged, honestly, to be called in at this stage of my career. And obviously with a few injuries around, it has been timing and probably a little bit lucky. But you go through a career, you have bad luck and good luck. This is a good luck one for me and I will take it."
Nathan Lyon has also been selected—the spinner has never played a T20 for his country despite appearing in over 50 Tests.
India, meanwhile, have selected some familiar faces in their travelling party, including Yuvraj Singh.
The left-handed batsman was an integral part of the India side that won the 50-over World Cup in 2011, yet was criticised for his performance in the 2014 World T20 final. He made 11 off 21 deliveries in a losing cause against Sri Lanka in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and has not featured for his country since.
Left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra has also been recalled at the age of 36, but India do have some fresh blood in the form of uncapped all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
The tourists will have to do without seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who fractured his thumb in the fourth ODI and has been replaced by Rishi Dhawan, per ESPN Cricinfo.
With Ajinkya Rahane a doubt due to split webbing on his right hand, Gurkeerat Singh Mann has been added to the squad as cover. The Board of Control for Cricket in India confirmed the move on Twitter:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s side go into the series having won just once in their last six outings in the shortest format, with their miserable run including back-to-back defeats at the hands of South Africa on home turf.
After Adelaide, they have fixtures against Australia in Melbourne and Sydney before returning to India for a three-match series against Sri Lanka in February.
Key Players
Australia
Watson needs to make the most of every opportunity he gets for Australia these days. At 34, he may not get too many more chances at the very highest level.
Watson averages 26.45 with the bat and 25.41 with the ball in his T20 international career. They are solid numbers, but at this stage the Queenslander may need something more spectacular to keep himself in the selectors' thoughts.
India
Like Watson, Nehra must grasp the importance of the series in terms of his future with India. He has played just eight T20 games for his country—the last of which was way back in Jan. 2011.
But, the experienced bowler had an impressive Indian Premier League campaign with the Chennai Super Kings in 2015, picking up 22 wickets in 10 matches while going at a respectable 7.24 runs per over.
Squads
Australia
Aaron Finch (capt), Scott Boland, Cameron Boyce, James Faulkner, John Hastings, Travis Head, Nathan Lyon, Chris Lynn, Shaun Marsh, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Shaun Tait, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Shane Watson
India
MS Dhoni (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Harbhajan Singh, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishi Dhawan, Ashish Nehra
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