India clinched the series win in the fourth T20I in Raipur when it defended its 174-run total at Raipur against a depleted Australia squad.
For Australia, finishing its India sojourn on a high will be the target, and Travis Head may well be key to this. Of the party that won the World Cup, Head — player-of-the-match in the final — is the most high-profile player still remaining in India.
The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium is the ideal habitat for the kind of breakneck pace of batting Head revels in. A feast is in the offing, if the 29-year-old gets going.
The visitors, though, will need to play the Indian spinners better. In Raipur, on a surface that challenged the batters a bit, Bishnoi and player-of-the-match Axar Patel spun a web that the Aussies found tough to untangle. The pair conceded just 33 runs across eight overs and scalped four wickets. The batting-friendly conditions in Bengaluru should come as a respite for Matthew Wade and his men.
ALSO READ | Axar Patel ‘was a bit upset’ on missing out on ODI World Cup due to injury
However, this being an inconsequential match in terms of deciding the series winner, there may be personnel changes, especially in the Indian camp which has 17 men to choose from as against 13 in the Australian roster. With India’s first T20I against South Africa in Durban just a week away, rotating a few players is not inconceivable.
Aficionados will also have an eye on the match-day weather. On Saturday, towards late afternoon and evening, overcast conditions could be seen in and around the stadium. There is a saying in these parts during the Northeast monsoon — when Tamil Nadu catches a cold, Karnataka sneezes. The hope and prayer for Sunday will be for a rain of runs and nothing else.
READ THE FULL PREVIEW HERE | With series in the bag, India eyes improvement in fast-bowling department
Wicketkeepers: Jitesh Sharma, Matthew Wade
Batters: Suryakumar Yadav, Travis Head, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal (vc), Rinku Singh
All-rounders: Axar Patel, Aaron Hardie
Bowlers: Ravi Bishnoi, Jason Behrendorff
Team composition: IND 7:4 AUS | Credits left: 11
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Washington Sundar/Mukesh Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Ravi Bishnoi
Australia: Matthew Short, Travis Head, Ben McDermott, Tim David, Aaron Hardie, Matthew Wade (c & wk), Chris Green, Jason Behrendorff, Nathan Ellis, Tanveer Sangha, Kane Richardson
SquadsIndia Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Axar Patel, Deepak Chahar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Tilak Varma, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Prasidh Krishna and Arshdeep Singh.
Australia Squad: Matthew Wade (c), Jason Behrendorff, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Chris Green, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Ben McDermott, Josh Phillippe, Kane Richardson, Tanveer Sangha and Matthew Short.
