All eyes on who Shreyas Iyer displaces in the XI as India aim to wrap up series

About 35 overs into the third T20I of the series in Guwahati, India pocketing the series with two games to spare looked more like a certainty than a mere possibility. However, on the night, the Men in Blue were downed by a stunning onslaught from Glenn Maxwell, who scored a record-equalling fourth T20I ton. Thanks to that, the five-match series is still alive, heading into the fourth T20I in Raipur on Friday (December 1).

Australia retained about 60% of their main XI for the first three matches but, barring Travis Head, the big guns have all flown back home. Thus the series will be completed by a group of promising-but-inexperienced players — Ben McDermott, Josh Phillipe, Chris Green and Ben Dwarshuis amongst others.

India, who are much stronger on paper, will hence walk into the final two games of the series as overwhelming favourites but they will know that, despite the mass exodus, they cannot take this Australian unit lightly, for there’s still enough firepower on the visitors’ side to cause an upset. 

Things to watch out for 

Shreyas Iyer set to return, but who goes out?

Having been named the vice-captain for the final two T20Is of this series, Shreyas Iyer is all set to return to the T20I side for the first time in a year. Iyer will definitely play, given he’s the vice-captain, but who goes out is the big question.

Ishan Kishan cannot be left out due to him being the wicket-keeper, meaning there are only two options: Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh. However, leaving out either player would be harsh. 

Not only do Tilak and Rinku play significantly different roles, both batters have not put a foot wrong thus far in their T20I careers. 

While Tilak, a middle-overs enforcer, is averaging 40 while striking over 140, Rinku has smoked 128 runs from the 59 deliveries he’s faced in T20Is, batting at an astounding strike rate of 216.94. Rinku has already played two match-winning cameos in this series, in which his strike rate currently is 230.43.

The management will have to ‘rest’ one of these two batters to accommodate Iyer. Time will tell if it’s a change worth making, but, as it stands, both Tilak and Rinku have earned the right to get a long rope in the starting XI. 

Can Ishan Kishan overcome his powerplay struggles?

So far in 2023, among the top 10 teams in T20Is, 14 batters have faced 75 or more balls in the powerplay (overs 1-6). Among them, nobody has a worse average (12.67) and strike rate (76.8) than Kishan. 

So far in this five-match T20I series against Australia, overall, Kishan has managed to post decent numbers — 110 runs @ 36.66 and 144.73 — but has continued to be sub-par against the new ball: he’s managed just 14 runs from 22 balls in the powerplay, batting at an eye-watering strike rate of 63.64. Flabbergastingly, he’s not hit a single four in the powerplay in this series so far.

Kishan’s struggles in this series have largely been due to the presence of Jason Behrendorff, against whom he’s managed just 4 runs off 15 balls. The 25-year-old has shown no intent versus Behrendorff, attacking just 33.3% of the balls he’s faced against the left-armer.  

If he is to make this No.3 role his own or make a case to be included in the starting XI, the left-hander will have to show that he can thrive across phases. The fourth T20I on Friday will be an opportunity to right the wrongs. 

Chance for some of the Aussies to make an impression ahead of the IPL auction

This five-match series might be an inconsequential one when it comes to the larger scheme of things, but individually, a lot of these Australian players have plenty to play for across these next two games, With an IPL auction coming up in two weeks, some of the younger Australian players have a golden opportunity to impress franchises and prove their worth.

Travis Head and Josh Inglis have already done their bit, but the likes of Aaron Hardie, Ben McDermott, Josh Phillipe, Matthew Short and even someone like Chris Green all have the chance to put in a showing that will make the world (and IPL franchises) take note of their talent.

If IPL auctions have taught us something over the years, it’s that performing well against India = guaranteed contract.

Ground Details

Friday’s clash will be the first-ever T20I played at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur. The venue, in fact, has hosted only one international match to date, an ODI between India and New Zealand earlier this year.

Interestingly, there have been no professional T20 games played at this venue since 2020. 

However, the venue did host the final leg of the Road Safety World Series in 2022, and there, the average first innings score was 182 across five games. 

Given we’ve seen belter after belter in this series so far, expect another batter-friendly track on Friday. 

Tactical insights

> Angling the ball away is a ploy that can be used to curtail Yashasvi Jaiswal. So far in this series, the 21-year-old has struck at just over 110 against deliveries that are wide. He’s feasted on anything straight (attacking the stumps) but has not shown the same efficiency against balls angling away. In the third T20I, he perished trying to heave a very wide delivery through the on-side.

> Bowling Ravi Bishnoi very early might not be a bad ploy for Travis Head. At all. In all T20s since 2021, the left-hander averages just 9.7 against leggies while striking at 70.7. Head did not face any spin in the third T20I but could potentially be challenged by the tweakers on Friday.

Probable XIs

Expect India to make two changes, with both Shreyas Iyer and Mukesh Kumar coming back into the XI

India XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shreyas Iyer, Rinku Singh / Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan / Deepak Chahar

Australia will have a very different-looking XI, with all the big guns having flown back. Kane Richardson could also miss Friday’s clash after picking up an injury

Australia XI: Travis Head, Matthew Short, Ben McDermott, Aaron Hardie, Josh Philippe, Tim David, Matthew Wade (c & wk), Chris Green / Ben Dwarshuis, Tanveer Sangha, Nathan Ellis, Jason Behrendorff