India vs Australia 3rd T20I preview: Visitors look to end tour on a high in Hyderabad

India and Australia lock horns one last time at Hyderabad in a virtual final. (Source: PTI)

Unlike the ODI series, where the home team dominated the visitors, the T20 series is up for grabs as India and Australia lock horns one last time at Hyderabad in a virtual final. After a dismal performance in Guwahati, India will be looking to reassert their supremacy with an improved performance whereas Australia will look to end the tour on a high. Which team will go on to win the contest is a matter of conjecture but as of now, Australia seems to have the psychological edge over their rivals.

On a lively track on Guwahati, the frailties of the Indian batsmen were exposed. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Manish Pandey and Shikhar Dhawan struggled to get going as India lost wickets in a heap at the top of the order. This was something that they could never recover from. Even Virat Kohli also had a forgettable outing as he was out for zero. This was the first time that Kohli was out for a duck in T20Is. The batting seems to have become an area of concern as even in the first match, India had struggled to get to the target after the bowlers had done a commendable job. Hence, the batsmen need to take the responsibility and stand up the task in the final T20.

Australia, on the other hand, will be buoyed by the confidence they gained from their last outing. Behrendorff has been the shining light in a team that had been low on confidence and the onus will once again be on him to provide the breakthroughs. Hyderabad is also Warner’s home turf in the IPL, so he too will be familiar with the conditions. In the previous, match the batsmen also returned to form as they did not allow the spinners to settle down. So if the bowlers can once again deliver the goods then Australia will be in with a good chance of winning the match and return home with their heads held high.

Squads:

India: Virat Kohli (captain), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicket-keeper), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Ashish Nehra, Lokesh Rahul, Axar Patel.

Australia: David Warner (captain), Moises Henriques, Aaron Finch, Tim Paine (wicket-keeper), Daniel Christian, Glenn Maxwell, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Travis Head, Adam Zampa, Andrew Tye, Kane Richardson.