IND vs AUS: 3 Senior Indian Players Who Will Have To Warm The Bench In India's T20 World Cup Warm Up Match vs Australia

IND vs AUS: 3 Senior Indian Players Who Will Have To Warm The Bench In India’s T20 World Cup Warm Up Match vs Australia. India will square off against Australia in the first official ICC T20 World Cup 2022 warm-up match on Monday, October 17. The Men in Blue played two unofficial warm-up games against the Western Australia XI, winning one and losing one.

In the meantime, Australia recently lost a T20 series 2-0 to England with the 3rd T20I washed out due to rain. The India vs Australia ICC T20 World Cup 2022 warm-up match will start at 9:30 AM (IST). India play archrivals Pakistan in their tournament opener on October 23.

Death over bowling will once again be focused on throughout the game against Australia. India scarcely improved in the final few overs as they allowed Western Australia to score 41 runs in five overs. Harshal Patel also bowled effectively to dismiss death-over hues. Ravichandran Ashwin played brilliantly in the last warm-up game as he grabbed three wickets.  Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will return for the warm-up match against Australia.

Australia, on the other hand, will be eager to strike with the ball at hand. Against England, bowlers like Kane Richardson, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc had a little advantage. Glenn Maxwell is having trouble getting runs and would like to perform well in the warm-up game.

In the first warm-up match against West Australia, Suryakumar Yadav picked up where he left against South Africa at home and scored a blistering knock of 52 runs to help India set a target of 159 runs for Western Australia XI. In return, the hosts were bundled out for 145 runs as Arshdeep Singh scalped 3 wickets and Yuzvendra Chahal and Bhuvneshwar Kumar took 2 wickets each.

India 158 for 6 (Suryakumar 52, Behrendorff 2-26) beat Western Australia XI 145 for 8 (Fanning 59, Arshdeep 3-6, Bhuvneshwar 2-26) by 13 runs

India lost to Western Australia XI in the second warm-up game by 36 runs. The match was important for the Indian team to get accustomed to the Australian playing conditions ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. India had won the first warm-up game by 13 runs. Despite KL Rahul’s 74 off 55 balls, India lost the match by 36 runs. Indians could score 132/8 in 20 overs. Riding on Ravichandran Ashwin’s 3-32, India managed to restrict Western Australia to 168 in 20 overs.

Western Australia XI 168 for 8 (Hobson 64, Short 52, Ashwin 3-32) beat Indians 132 for 8 (Rahul 74, Lance Morris 2-23, Kelly 2-26) by 36 runs

IND vs AUS: 3 Senior Indian Players Who Will Have To Warm The Bench In India’s T20 World Cup Warm-Up Match vs Australia

Ravichandran Ashwin

India has three specialist spinners (Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, and Ravichandran Ashwin) and a part-timer in Deepak Hooda in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 squad. The Men in Blue are likely to play two specialists, but which two is unsure.

Yuzvendra Chahal has been consistent with his bowling performance this year and the team can’t drop him in the opening clash. Axar Patel won the man of the series award in the recent T20I series against Australia, grabbing 8 wickets in 3 games.

Moreover, since Yuzvendra Chahal is a right-arm spinner, the team might go ahead with a left-arm spinner like Axar Patel as the other spinner in the clash against Pakistan. Ravichandran Ashwin who didn’t pick a wicket in 3 T20Is against Proteas in his last T20I series will warm the bench against Australia in the warm-up game. He picked 3 wickets in the 2nd warm-up game against Western Australia XI averaging 10.67.

Dinesh Karthik

One of the key features of the squad is the inclusion of 2 wicket-keepers – Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik. While Rishabh Pant has been struggling for runs, Dinesh Karthik has done well with the bat yet it is the former who gets a consistent run in the playing XI.

The battle for the wicketkeeper’s role will be decided between Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik. In the Asia Cup 2022, Rishabh Pant had gotten the nod over Dinesh Karthik in the Super 4 round of the tournament. Moreover, Rishabh Pant is the only left-hander in the team’s batting order and has the quality to bat at any number.

Dinesh Karthik may be rested for the warm-up game against Australia, to try out players like Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel and Mohammed Shami.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar will now shoulder the responsibility of leading the bowling attack in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah. He is lethal with the new bowl as he can swing the bowl both ways, creating problems for the batters at the top.

He is India’s top wicket-taker in this format this year. However, his death bowling is a concern, so he may be rested for the game against Australia. He picked 1 wicket in 2 games against Australia at an average of 91.0 and an economy of 13.0. He was a little costly in the series. However, he has shown good form this year, winning the player of the series award multiple times.

With Mohammed Shami’s inclusion, India may opt to rest Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the warm-up game against Australia. Mohammed Shami hasn’t played any T20I since the 2021 T20I World Cup.