However, they will welcome back Glenn Maxwell, who returns to the T20I team following his recovery from a fractured wrist that has prevented him from playing since mid-September. His comeback gives Australia’s lineup a fresh perspective, especially when it comes to the bat and when facing India’s spinners.
With the T20 World Cup in February and March in mind, it’s difficult to predict how much either of these teams can learn from this series. With levels of seam movement and bounce that are rarely witnessed anywhere in the world in white-ball cricket, the conditions at that tournament, which will be contested in India and Sri Lanka, will be very different from those we’ve seen in the early months of this Australian summer.
Despite this, India wants to be a T20 team that can play in every weather. The second T20I on Friday showed that there are still holes that need to be filled with both bat and ball. At the MCG, there were moments when they appeared to be an XI put together with Asian conditions in mind, both on paper and in practice.
Regardless of how similar or different these conditions are from what they get at the World Cup, India will want to demonstrate over the next three games that they have the adaptability to win regularly even in these kinds of situations.
In his final appearance for Australia, Glenn Maxwell went from 122 for 6 in a chase of 173 to win them a Twenty20 International against South Africa in a way that only he and a select few can. But in 11 T20I innings, that was his first half-century. When you play Maxwell’s high-wire game, you understand it. He has a similar boom-or-bust pattern in his T20 figures against India’s wristspinners, with a strike rate of 165.30 against Kuldeep Yadav but five dismissals in 49 balls, and a strike rate of 151.51 against Varun Chakravarthy but five dismissals in 33 balls.
You can be certain that this match will be entertaining regardless of the outcome. Even if teams are rapidly realizing that certain left-handers, such Abhishek Sharma, are becoming more skilled at dissecting offspin, Maxwell will still have a role to play with the ball, perhaps even with the new ball against him.
Sanju Samson has been attempting to adjust to a new position at No. 5 or 6 in India’s T20I lineup ever since he was forced out of the starting position by Shubman Gill’s return. He was given the chance to bat in the more comfortable surroundings of No. 3 at the MCG, but his innings was short-lived as Nathan Ellis’ in-ducker took advantage of his propensity to hang back and become trapped on the crease even when facing fullish lengths.
His impressive record against pace is one of the reasons India has continued to support him over Jitesh Sharma. Samson is undoubtedly capable of attacking while he is in the game, but he will occasionally have to bat on pitches where he must survive one or two overs before he can unleash his full potential.
Team news: Will India provide assistance with pace bowling?
In Australia’s offensive, who takes Hazlewood’s place? The most likely possibility is Sean Abbott, who will depart the team after the third Twenty20 International. However, Australia might surprise India by giving West Australian tearaway Mahli Beardman, who has joined the squad along with Maxwell, his first international appearance.
Maxwell, who has fully recovered from his wrist fracture, is expected to take Matthew Short’s or Mitchell Owen’s place in the middle order.
When a series is still in play, India usually doesn’t make many changes to its T20I XI, but given the outcome of Friday’s match, they may be debating the balance of their squad. Do they think Shivam Dube is a good bowling choice under these circumstances, and if not, would they be better served by a specialized finisher like Rinku Singh, a batsman with a stronger track record of hitting the pace? And, with or without Dube contributing a few overs, are two frontline seamers sufficient on these Australian wickets in the early season?
Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Shivam Dube/Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav/Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, and Jasprit Bumrah are the potential players for India.
Pitch and circumstances: lesser totals, early season
As its last two T20Is indicate, Hobart can provide both high-scoring and low-scoring games. Australia defeated the West Indies in a match in February 2024 in which both sides scored more than 200 runs. Then, in November, Australia easily won in 11.2 overs after bowling Pakistan out for 117.
The way those matches turned out might have been influenced by their timing. The average first-innings total from the four Twenty20 Internationals that were played in Hobart in January and February was 190, whereas the average first-innings total from the nine T20Is that were played in October and November was 148. Is the early-summer juice in the pitches the cause of these reduced totals? Or do they simply show how good the teams that batted in those games were? Or is everything merely chance? And will Sunday be affected in any way?
With evening temperatures dropping from the mid-20s to the low-20s, the day is predicted to be largely clear.
Statistics and trivia: David, Abhishek, Tilak, and Samson are close to 1000 T20I runs.
To become the 12th Indian batsman to reach 1000 T20I runs, Sanju Samson needs five more runs. With 31 and 25 T20I innings played compared to Samson’s 43, Tilak Varma and Abhishek Sharma, respectively, require 38 and 64 runs to reach the milestone.
The same landmark is 50 runs away from Tim David.
Marcus Stoinis is three wickets away from reaching 50 in Twenty20 Internationals, while Glenn Maxwell is one wicket away.
In T20Is, Jasprit Bumrah is two wickets short of reaching 100. The only bowler from India to reach that milestone thus far is Arshdeep Singh (101).
India’s win-loss record against every T20I opponent is good. They have already won 20 games and lost 12 against Australia.
In Hobart, India has never participated in a T20I.
India
