India vs. Australia, World T20: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

India and Australia will meet in Mohali on Sunday for what is essentially a knockout clash in Super 10 Group 2 of the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 in India, as the winner will go through to the semi-finals.

Venue: Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh, India

Date: Sunday, March 27

Start time: 7:30 p.m local time (2 p.m GMT)

Live on: Channel 9 and Fox Sports (Australia), Ariana TV Network (Afghanistan), BTV (Bangladesh), ESPN Star and Star Sports (India), Sky Sport NZ (New Zealand), Sky Sports 2 (United Kingdom), Willow TV (USA and Canada), PTV Sports and Ten Sports (Pakistan), SuperSport (South Africa), OSN Sports (Middle East)

Weather: Daytime temperatures will rise to the 33 degrees Celsius range, while things will cool down to a balmy 15 degrees in the evening, according to AccuWeather.com. It does mean that dew could become a factor and chasing will not be easy.

Overview 

Both India and Australia had an early wobble to their World T20 campaign when they lost their opening fixtures against New Zealand. Now, both are vying for a spot in the semi-finals.

The sides are currently tied on four points each, meaning whoever wins will progress to the next round. This clash is perfectly poised to be one of the most enticing of all the group fixtures.

India recently won against the Baggy Greens on Australian soil and have beaten them eight out of 12 times in T20 matches, so the hosts should have the psychological edge.

However, having been pushed so closely by Bangladesh, they might not have the momentum. In that fixture, which India won by one-run, the Men in Blue very nearly made a meal of their modest total of 146. Take nothing away from Bangladesh, who were thrilling, but the inconsistency in those last five overs won’t do against a team known for its finishing.

Australia, meanwhile, are fresh off a convincing 21-run win over Pakistan, with James Faulkner’s maiden five-for having set them up for victory. Steve Smith played a captain's knock in that game, hitting an unbeaten 61 off 43.

Neither side has a single batsman who has performed particularly consistently with the bat. However, India have cause to be just a tad more concerned than the Aussies. 

Just one Indian player, Virat Kohli, has managed more than 100 runs across the tournament so far. And while this is also true for Australia (just Usman Khawaja has done so), they have three players who have also scored 50 or more where India have just one.

In the bowling department, the two sides are fairly evenly matched, with India just a tad ahead in terms of being able to restrict the run rate.

As hosts, India will be under tremendous pressure to go on and qualify for the semi-finals, and if Australia can find a way to exploit that, they’ll have a very good chance of beating a team they have struggled to overcome in the T20 format.

Key players

India

When it comes to piling the pressure on, Ravindra Jadeja has been India's most effective bowler so far. Not only has he picked up more wickets than any other bowler in the squad (four), but his economy rate of 5.66, strike rate of 18.00 and average of 17.00 is the lowest of any other India bowler who has bowled more than 10 overs at the tournament.

Australia

After Steve Smith's batting performance against Pakistan, his side will be wanting more of the same from their skipper. He had not had a great tournament until then, so perhaps the monkey is finally off his back.

Squads

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Pawan Negi, Mohammed Shami, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah, Harbhajan Singh, Hardik Pandya

Australia: Steven Smith, Ashton Agar, James Faulkner, John Hastings, Usman Khawaja, Glenn Maxwell, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Shane Watson, Peter Nevill, Mitchell Marsh, Josh Hazlewood, Aaron Finch, Nathan Coulter-Nile, David Warner