India will lock horns with Australia in the first fixture of the five-match Australia tour of India 2023 T20I series on November 23. The clash will take place at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM IST. As far as their recent results in T20Is are concerned, India achieved a historic feat by claiming their first-ever gold medal in cricket at the Asian Games 2023 held in China earlier this year. Meanwhile, Australia thumped South Africa 3-0 in their last T20I assignment in August-September 2023.
Mitchell Marsh bagged the Player of the Series award, scoring 186 runs with the help of two half-centuries.
Talking about head-to-head match-ups in T20Is, India and Australia have met on 26 occasions. While India won 15 times, Australia emerged triumphant in 10 instances. One clash concluded with no result.
Top five key battles from India vs Australia, 1st T20I match:
Matthew Wade vs Arshdeep Singh
Australia captain Matthew Wade will be taking the field for the first time in more than a year. The southpaw, known to provide aggressive starts, has amassed 1,018 runs in 75 T20Is at an average of 24.82 and a strike rate of 132.03.
He will be up against India’s left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, who is known to generate in-swing during the powerplay phase, something which may trouble Wade. With a record of 54 wickets in 36 T20Is, this will be an interesting battle to watch out for.
Glenn Maxwell vs Axar Patel
Glenn Maxwell is coming on the back of a superb ODI World Cup campaign, where his all-round contribution of 400 runs and six wickets helped Australia clinch a record-extending sixth title. He also played a blinder of a knock against Afghanistan where his 201* off just 128 balls to save his team from a shocking defeat.
While the Aussie will be high on confidence, India’s spinner Axar Patel will look to exploit his weakness against slow left-arm bowling, which has troubled Maxwell in the past.
Ruturaj Gaikwad vs Adam Zampa
Ruturaj Gaikwad enjoyed a decent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023 campaign as far as individual performances are concerned, accumulating 244 runs in five innings, including one century and half-century apiece.
On the other hand, Adam Zampa’s 23 wickets in 11 matches propelled Australia to World Cup glory. Given Gaikwad’s form, the onus will be on Zampa to continue his fine run of form and get the better of Gaikwad, while restricting the flow of runs. The 31-year-old has taken 12 wickets in 14 T20Is against India, the highest by any Australian bowler.
Tim David vs Ravi Bishnoi
Both players will be expected to play crucial roles in the middle overs phase, especially Ravi Bishnoi, who will look to put brakes on the scoring rate.
While Tim David can take the game away from the opposition with his fierce hitting, one cannot ignore his flaws against spin bowling and Ravi Bishnoi might just be the right man to keep a check on the tall batter.
Yashasvi Jaiswal vs Nathan Ellis
Yashasvi Jaiswal has had a fantastic start to his T20I career for India, piling up 232 runs in just seven innings, including one ton and a half-century. The opener will face right-arm seamer Nathan Ellis, who has already dismissed him once in the IPL 2023 campaign.
If Jaiswal manages to play a big knock and stay in the middle till the death overs, Ellis will be one to shoulder the responsibility to keep the youngster at bay and not offer any freebies to take advantage of.
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