1st T20I: Focus on Suryakumar’s form as India take on Australia

The leader in Suryakumar Yadav would nudge the batter in him to take centre stage and start contributing handsomely with the willow when India take on Australia in the opening T20 International here on Wednesday.

It promises to be an even battle with both countries having won eight of their last 10 T20I games with a defeat each. While India had one tied game, Australia saw one game washed out.

While the captain’s prolonged bad patch remains a cause of worry, the Indian T20 team has been the best of the three national outfits, almost operating on autopilot with the new players taking on their roles like fish to water.

Since being appointed captain, Suryakumar’s record has been phenomenal in terms of results, with 23 wins in 29 games so far, adhering to the new template of fearless cricket where every batter goes all guns blazing from ball one.

The aggression at all costs and Surya’s leadership skills have worked really well with an all-win bilateral series record and the Asia Cup triumph, albeit, against some second rung continental teams.

The Australia series marks the beginning of India’s real preparation going into the T20 World Cup early next year with 15 games to get into the groove.

But one could say that the result of this series would not have a major impact as the next 10 games against South Africa and New Zealand would be in familiar conditions, something similar to what they are likely to get in the T20 World Cup.

While head coach Gautam Gambhir was unequivocal in his support for Surya and believed that he didn’t need to worry about his string of low scores, it is indeed time for the captain to let his bat do the talking.

In 2023, Surya had batted in 18 innings, scoring 733 runs at a strike rate of nearly 156 and it comprised two tons and five half-centuries. In 2024, he amassed little less than 450 runs at a strike-rate of 151 but cut to 2025, the Indian skipper has managed only 100 runs from 10 innings at an average of 11 runs per game.

What stands out as an anomaly is his strike rate of over 105, which suggests that while he has struggled for runs, he hasn’t completely abandoned his attacking intent.

“I feel I have been working really hard. Not that I wasn’t working hard before. I have had good few sessions back home, good 2-3 sessions here, so I am in good space,” the skipper said at the pre-series press conference at the Manuka Oval.

The skipper again stressed on the team goal.

“Runs, it will come eventually but I’m working hard towards the team goal. It’s more important what team wants from you in different situations and I take one game at a time and if it starts then I think it will be a good thing.”

For someone like Abhishek Sharma, who became the toast of the nation in the Asia Cup, tackling the extra bounce on Australian pitches would be a new challenge and hence the skipper’s contribution becomes all the more important.

The problem with Surya has been his limited range of strokes and always trying to play behind the square using the pace and bounce of the deliveries.

While bounce in the Manuka Oval track gives him a chance to ride on it and get maximum returns, Josh Hazlewood’s presence and those Test match lengths on and in the off-stump corridor would create problems.

It would not only be a new set of questions for someone like Abhishek but also old set of queries for the Indian skipper, whose critics always point out that he hasn’t consistently scored against big teams recently.

In terms of the bowling attack, Jasprit Bumrah’s presence and Varun Chakravarthy’s guile would be the important factors if Indian batters can put up a decent score.

The 12 overs from Varun, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel would be very important alongside Bumrah and Arshdeep’s opening spells against Travis Head and the dangerous Mitchell Marsh.

All eyes will also be on Mitchell Owen, Australia’s new T20 star who played a game for Punjab Kings last year. Owen was terrific against India in a recent ODI in Adelaide but possibility of facing 12 overs of slow bowling would test his hitting skills.

Teams:

India: Suryakumar Yadav ©, Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.

Australia: Mitchell Marsh ©, Sean Abbott (games 1-3), Xavier Bartlett, Mahli Beardman (games 3-5), Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis (games 4-5), Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood (games 1-2), Glenn Maxwell (games 3-5), Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitchell Owen, Josh Philippe, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis.

Match Starts: 1:45 pm.