Can India Up Their T20 Ranking After Australia Series?

India have been enjoying a fabulous run in international cricket at the moment, tour-washing Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka and very recently, beating Australia 4-1 in the ODI series. In an attempt to test their bench strength, India lost the 4th ODI, or else they could’ve had another ODI whitewash.

However, they managed to secure the #1 spot in the ICC ODI Rankings after that 4-1 win. Already enjoying the top spots in Test and ODI cricket, the focus now shifts to the T20 scenario, where India are lagging behind the other countries, at #5 on the ICC T20I Rankings.

However, Australia are even lower down on that chart, at #7 – a position you don’t generally associate with a team like Australia, regardless of the format. Apart from Steve Smith & David Warner, there haven’t been many who stood out in tough situations during the ODI series. It’s going to be another tough series for the men from down under.

India vs Australia T20I Schedule:

1st T20 – 7th October 2017, Ranchi
2nd T20 – 10th October 2017, Guwahati
3rd T20 – 13th October 2017, Hyderabad

The surprising/not-so-surprising pick in the Indian squad for the 3 T20s against Australia was that of Ashish Nehra, 38-year old pace bowler. Having played his last test for India in 2004, and last ODI in 2011, not many would think he deserves his spot in the Indian side.

However, Nehra has reinvented his game in the last couple of years, and deserves to have a spot in the T20 squad. Virender Sehwag has fully backed Nehra’s selection in the team and so have I, given the fact that he has been very valuable in the IPL over the last few seasons, and has also maintained a high level of fitness.

With India having two of the best death overs bowlers in Bhuvneshwar Kumar & Jasprit Bumrah, Nehra offers experience and a low economy rate in the powerplay overs. We may very easily see him bowl 3 or even 4 overs up front and a wicket or two is expected from him. Can’t wait to watch him in action again!

Australia have revamped their squad for the T20s, dropping most of their regular players and going in for a squad that has a lot of experience of playing T20 cricket in India in the IPL over the years. They have brought in Henriques, Christian & Andrew Tye, who had a great IPL 2017, until he got injured.

Surprising selections included pacer Jason Behrendorff, who has been around the scene since a while but injuries have not let him get a chance; and Tim Paine, who hasn’t played at the highest level since a while, except in the recent World XI series in Pakistan.

Australia T20I Squad

Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Jason Behrendorff, Adam Zampa, Andrew Tye, Tim Paine, Moises Henriques, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Finch, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Daniel Christian, Kane Richardson.

India T20I Squad

Virat Kohli (c), MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Kuldeep Yadav, Dinesh Karthik.

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Watch this space for more coverage of the India v Australia T20 series.