India, Australia begin journey to another ICC event with T20I series
Less than a week since the two sides squared off in the World Cup final, India and Australia meet on the cricketing field once again, albeit in a shorter format
The Indians will be led by middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav, who takes over the reins of the team from regular captain Hardik Pandya, who has been ruled out with an ankle injury
The Indian squad, which is a little short on experience, were seen training hard at Visakhapatnam’s ACA-VDCA Stadium, the venue for the T20I series opener on Thursday
Besides Visakhapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram, Guwahati, Raipur and Bengaluru will host the other matches in the five-T20I series
Australia will be led by wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade with all-rounder Mitchell Marsh, who is expected to be named permanent captain soon, having left India after the World Cup
The spotlight, however, will fall on one Travis Head, who stole the show in the World Cup final and shattered a billion hearts by denying India their fist ICC title in a decade with a superb 137
The series will be important for both teams in kickstarting their preparations for next year’s T20 World Cup