Australia's T20 tour of India: All you need to know

22 Nov 2023 Dave Middleton

With Australia's ODI World Cup win over India still fresh, the two sides meet again in the T20 format with the next global event only 195 days away

When does it start?

The ODI World Cup win is still fresh but the cricket machine rolls on, and India host Australia for the first of five T20s beginning Thursday night. The tour will last 11 days with the fifth match played on December 3.

Schedule

November 23: First T20, Vishakhapatnam

November 26: Second T20, Thiruvananthapuram

November 28: Third T20, Guwahati

December 1: Fourth T20, Raipur

December 3: Fifth T20, Bengaluru

^{All matches start 12.30am AEDT on the following date}

Why is this series relevant?

It's a fair question, coming so hot on the heels of a fantastic 50-over World Cup. And the cheap answer would be to point to Indian cricket's insatiable appetite and the associated TV dollars it brings in. But dig a little deeper and with an ICC event now every 12 months, it is only 195 days until the T20 World Cup starts in June.

That tournament will be held in the Caribbean and the USA and, while there's no denying this series is opportunistic scheduling, it does offer an opportunity for fringe players to stake their claim in the cauldron of international cricket. After all, Australia is only scheduled to play 11 T20s before that World Cup – five here, three against the West Indies at home in February and another three in New Zealand in March.

For the Aussies, this is another chance for a look at the likes of Matt Short, Aaron Hardie and Tanveer Sangha who are all newcomers to international cricket, as well as a notable chance for Steve Smith to press his case as a T20 opener following his Big Bash fireworks last summer.

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So it's not a full-strength Aussie side?

No, but you could take a view that actually adds to the appeal for this series. England hung around in Australia for a white-ball series they were thoroughly uninterested in after their T20 World Cup win last year, but this Australia squad has a fresh injection of personnel.

Squad changes from the ODI World Cup

Coming in: Matthew Wade (c), Aaron Hardie, Jason Behrendorff, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Kane Richardson

Staying on: Sean Abbott, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa

A host of players including fast bowling trio Pat Cummins, Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood have been rested from the series, as have allrounders Mitch Marsh and Cameron Green.

David Warner was initially named in the squad but has been withdrawn, meaning another opportunity for allrounder Aaron Hardie.

Warner out of T20 series after World Cup triumph

From the playing XI that won the ODI World Cup, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith and Adam Zampa are all included in this squad.

Just how many of those feature in the opening match remains to be seen, with Head in particular having heartily enjoyed the post-match celebrations following his player-of-the-final award for a century in the run chase.

World Cup squad members Sean Abbott and Marcus Stoinis are also staying on for the T20s, as is Tanveer Sangha, who travelled with the World Cup squad as a reserve player.

In addition, coming in fresh are Matthew Wade, who skippers the team, Jason Behrendorff, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Matt Short and Kane Richardson.

Wade elevated to captain T20 side in post-World Cup tour

Head coach Andrew McDonald also flew home on Wednesday with assistant Andre Borovec to take over for the T20s.

Australia T20 squad: Matthew Wade (c), Aaron Hardie, Jason Behrendorff, Sean Abbott, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa

Hang on, didn't Matthew Wade retire?

Talk of the veteran wicketkeeper's international retirement has been proven premature! Matthew Wade, who himself considered his international career over 12 months ago after the T20 World Cup on home soil, is back to captain Australia.

Wade is in the job on an interim basis only, taking over from Mitch Marsh who captained for three matches in South Africa in August. The Tasmanian has not played international cricket since that T20 World Cup last year.

Australia have been without a permanent T20 captain since Aaron Finch retired in February, and do not appear in any rush to appoint one.

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How about the Indians?

Plenty of time to lick their wounds for the beaten Indians with only three of their World Cup squad members included in their 16-player group for this series.

Suryakumar Yadav is the only member of the playing XI from the ODI World Cup final to stay on, and will captain the side. Squad members Ishan Kishan and Prasidh Krishna are also in the group while top-order bat Shreyas Iyer will join them for the final two matches.

Hardik Pandya remains out injured after hurting his ankle trying to stop a drive off his own bowling in India's World Cup game against Bangladesh.

India T20 squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Shreyas Iyer (last two matches only).

How can I watch?

Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports have exclusive broadcast rights to the tour for Aussie viewers. Kayo's excellent 'Mini' packages and full replays are worth every cent of the subscription fee at times like this. If you're not already onboard with Kayo, get around it here.

How's the time difference?

Honestly, it's not the best for Aussie fans on the east coast. While the World Cup saw the vast majority of games start at 7.30pm, these are shorter T20 matches played entirely in the evening, which means 12.30am start times in Sydney and Melbourne.

Lucky we know a place where you can catch up…

The best way to follow the series?

The cricket.com.au website and CA Live app, of course.

Our team will continue to provide access to the same great live scores and news from the series while still covering everything from the Weber WBBL, Marsh Sheffield Shield and Marsh One-Day Cup as we build into another huge home summer.

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Head-to-head

It seems low, but there have only been 27 T20 internationals between Australia and India since the first in 2007. India holds the advantage 15-10 (with one washout, and one abandoned before a ball was bowled).

Of the 10 times they've met in India in this format, the home side has won six of them.

Australia has only won a multi-game T20 series in India once, in February 2019 when Glenn Maxwell starred with 56 and 113no as they won 2-0.

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Last time they met

India won a three-game series 2-1 in September last year in a series best remembered for Cameron Green's breakout as a white-ball player. The tall Western Australian scored 61 from 30 and 52 from 21 as an opener in the first and third games of this series, which no doubt helped him land a sweet A$3.15m price at the IPL auction just a few weeks later.

Recent form

Australia underperformed in the T20 World Cup on home soil 12 months ago, and have only played one T20 series since with all the focus leading up to the just-concluded ODI World Cup. The T20s they did play went well – a 3-0 whitewash of the Proteas in South Africa in September.

Mitchell Marsh, who captained the side, was a beast with 186 runs across the three games, while Travis Head put on 115. Tim David and Matt Short both finished with strike rates north of 200.

Sean Abbott claimed eight wickets and had an economy rate of just 7.

But Australia are on a six-game winning streak in the T20 format, beating Sri Lanka, Ireland and Afghanistan in the group stage at last year's T20 World Cup before the South Africa series. You have to go back to 2019 to find a longer win-streak in the format for Australia.

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