Australia won the toss and elected to bowl first in the opening T20I against India here at Manuka Oval on Friday. India secured a consolation win in the third and final ODI against Australia and the Men in Blue will be looking to carry forward the momentum into the three-match T20I series. On the other hand, Australia might have lost the T20I series against England in September this year, but the team from Down Under has clearly dominated India in the ODI series. India last played a T20I series in January this year and the side white-washed New Zealand 5-0 in Kiwi land. Australia and India are currently ranked at the second and third spot in the ICC T20I Team Rankings and the series will go a long way in also preparing for the T20 World Cup that is to be played in November 2021. T Natarajan will be playing his first game in the shortest format of the game after making an ODI debut on Wednesday. Ahead of the match, Natarajan got his T20I debut cap from pacer Jasprit Bumrah. For Australia, D’Arcy Short will open the batting with his captain Aaron Finch. Australia players are celebrating their ‘First Nations’ people by wearing their incredible Indigenous playing shirt in the T20I series. Australia Playing XI: Aaron Finch (c), D’Arcy Short, Matthew Wade (wk), Steve Smith, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Sean Abbott, Mitch Starc, Mitch Swepson, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood. India Playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul (wk), Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Thangarasu Natarajan.
