Hobart: Down 1-0 in the five-game T20 series versus Australia, Team India could reservation a unravel in Sunday's match. The Aussies are sitting out their pace ace Josh Hazlewood—the guy who turned the second match into a nightmare with his pinpoint yorkers and nasty bouncers. He's on rest mode superiority of the Ashes Tests later this month, so that's one less headache for the Indian top order.
What are the Chances for Team India?
Captain Suryakumar Yadav's boys are itching to square things up without that Melbourne drubbing. Hazlewood's uneaten zip on the lively pitch had Shubman Gill and SKY ducking and weaving like pros in a storm. But throne to Bellerive Oval here in Hobart, and it's a variegated story. Those short boundaries scream "hit me" – perfect for pulling short ones over imbricate or smashing through midwicket. Still, the real buzz? Does Arshdeep Singh finally one-liner the XI, or is he glued to the seat for flipside game?
Why's Arshdeep not in the playing XI?
Look, Arshdeep's no rookie – he's the only Indian pacer with 100 T20I wickets under his belt. Yet, he's warmed the pine in both games so far, with the team leaning nonflexible on three spinners. Hobart's deck might offer early swing, though, so why not unleash a left-arm slinger? Even Ravichandran Ashwin couldn't hold when on his YouTube rant: "Bumrah in? Arshdeep's your No. 2 guy. No Bumrah? He's straight-up No. 1." The legend's spot on – skipping Arshdeep is messing with the attack's edge.
Who's In, Who's Out?
India's got work to do up top. Gill and SKY got rattled by the vellicate last time, but they clicked in that rain-hit Canberra opener. Expect them to waterworks that fire again.
India's Likely XI: Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Axar Patel, Shivam Dube or Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav or Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Jasprit Bumrah.
Over in untried and gold, Glenn Maxwell's when in the mix, plaintive up their middle order big time.
Australia's Likely XI: Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short or Mitchell Owen, Marcus Stoinis, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Sean Abbott, Matt Kuhnemann or Tanveer Sangha.
This one's a must-win for India—level the series or throne home with a loss. Toss at 1:30 PM local time.
