Title of T20 WC favourites on the line as India battle Australia with Jasprit Bumrah and Josh Inglis the two big returns.
Battle for the title of T20 World Cup favouritism begins.
The five-match T20I series, which starts in Canberra on Wednesday night, is significantly more important for the immediate future than the ODI series, which had little significance aside from both countries making some early progress towards the 2027 World Cup.
In the final stages of preparation for the T20 World Cup in February in India and Sri Lanka, the world’s top two teams square off. The opportunity for each squad to test themselves and their game style against each other so soon to a World Cup will be extremely advantageous to both teams, regardless of the weather.
India is without a doubt the world’s best squad. The defending World Cup champions won the Asia Cup without losing, although Sri Lanka only came near to defeating them once in the Super Fours. Since winning the World Cup in 2024, they have only dropped three games, and under Suryakumar Yadav, they have undoubtedly grown even more formidable and dynamic.
Given his successes with the red and pink balls down under last summer, Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested for the ODI series, is expected to relish the early season conditions in Australia. India will have to figure out how to balance the starting lineup in Australian conditions, which they had trouble with in the ODIs.
Australia, meanwhile, has changed since losing to India in the 2024 World Cup. Australia’s hierarchy is forced to reconsider their strategy after consecutive subpar performances in the 2022 and 2024 tournaments. Since adopting an all-out power-hitting style of play under Mitchell Marsh, the outcomes have been outstanding.
Thanks to some incredible batting from Marsh, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Cameron Green, Tim David, Mitchell Owen, and Glenn Maxwell, they have only lost two of their previous 20 Twenty20 Internationals. Green is not playing against India since he is getting ready for the Ashes, but Matt Short and Marcus Stoinis come in.
“There has been a shift,” coach Andrew McDonald said on Monday in Canberra.
“Our admission was that we haven’t been successful in a couple of campaigns. We’ve got to change things up. We’ve got to stretch ourselves.
“Is it the style that can win a World Cup? We believe so. Will we have to pivot and nuance it slightly, depending on whether we’re in Colombo or Delhi or Kolkata? There’s no doubt about that.”
“You’re playing against India, so it’s a really good test on whether this style will hold up,” McDonald said. “They’re the number-one ranked team in the world, I think we’re number two. We’re excited to test ourselves against the best.