India take on Australia in the second of the three-match T20I series at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati, which is all set to host its first international fixture on Tuesday, October 10.
The hosts have a chance to seal the series as early as on Tuesday as they crushed David Warner's Australia in the first T20I by nine wickets on Saturday, October 7. Virat Kohli's men were ruthless yet again as the visitors came up with yet another disappointing batting display - 118/8 in 18.4 overs - before rain shortened the game.
Skipper Kohli hinted he was unhappy with the revised target of 48 in 6 overs, but the Delhi dasher led from the front to take India past the finish line in Ranchi.
Unchanged unit for India?
India are unlikely to change the winning combination on Tuesday. Veteran Ashish Nehra, who was a surprise inclusion in the T20I squad, might have to warm the benches once again as Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been troubling the Australian batsmen in the ongoing tour.
Focus will once again be on the visitors' batting line-up, which has been clueless against wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. In the absence of skipper Steve Smith, who has returned to Australia with a shoulder injury, the visitors' over-reliance on openers Warner and Aaron Finch was exposed as the middle-order came up with a spineless display in Ranchi.
Stoinis boost for Australia
The likes of Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell and Dan Christian, who form the core of the Australian middle-order, failed to step up despite having the experience of featuring in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Marcus Stoinis, who was named as the replacement for Smith, is likely to come in for one f the three all-rounders after his impressive all-round show in the recently-concluded ODI series.
Skipper Warner has hinted that his team needs to play the brand of cricket Australia are known for ahead of the must-win game in Guwahati.
"We have just got to keep going out there and keep backing ourselves 100 per cent. We have just got to keep playing the game that we know and that's the brand of cricket that we bring to the table," Warner said at the pre-match press conference on Monday, October 9.
Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see how left-arm pacer Jason Behrendorff goes about his business after his impressive one-over burst in Ranchi. With the Guwahati curator saying the pitch will offer something for everyone, the visitors' hopes will be pinned on their pace bowling unit.
When does the match start & how to watch it live
The second T20I between India and Australia at Guwahati starts at 7pm IST, 1:30pm GMT.
Live streaming and TV coverage
India: TV: Star Sports. Live Streaming: Hotstar.
Australia: TV: Fox Sports. Live Streaming: Foxtel.
UK: TV: Sky Sports Cricket. Live Streaming: Watch Sky Sports.
USA: TV: Willow TV. Live Streaming: Willow TV Online.
Squads
Australia: David Warner (captain), Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim Paine (wicketkeeper), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Kane Richardson, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Daniel Christian, Jason Behrendorff.
India: Virat Kohli (captain) , Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, , Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Kedar Jadhav, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Ashish Nehra.
