Australia v India live T20I at Sydney: Redemption for India?

It is an opportunity for redemption for India as they head into the Twenty20 International series on Wednesday following their rather forgettable test series Down Under. Australia, in the meanwhile, will be keen on carrying the momentum through and into the triangular series that follows.

It is interesting to note that Australia will be captained by a player who is yet to debut at the international level.

In the aftermath of Cameron White’s dismal Big Bash League performance with only 55 runs at an average of under eight runs, the selectors named 29-year old George Bailey as captain.

Bailey is a proven performer at the T20 level and has also represented Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. The selectors have been brave enough to experiment beyond that as well with the inclusion of Brad Hogg who came out of retirement for the BBL and took everyone by a surprise with his performance.

Matthew Wade will don the gloves while Shaun Marsh will look to break free at the top of the order with David Warner who has been in supreme form.

For India, the tour so far has been an abysmal one with things dropping from bad to worse. With the aged senior lot not a part of the T20 squad, they will look to the young reinforcements to lift them out of their troubles.

On paper they remain a strong aggressive force, though how much of it translates on to the field is a big question mark. The team will be led by MS Dhoni who missed the final test due to a one-match ban. Suresh Raina comes into the side and Rohit Sharma is likely to make it to the playing eleven as well.

The bowling unit looks better suited for the shorter format with Praveen Kumar, Umesh Yadav and Ravi Ashwin taking the bulk of responsibility.

On their last tour here, India were snuffed out in a T20 match and will be hoping to change that as they look to reinvigorate their results as well their fans’ faith in them.

The India v Australia T20I begins at 8.35 am GMT on February 1.