India also bring a revamped squad to that which lost the just-completed VB ODI Series 1-4, with experienced players such as Yuvraj Singh, Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh attempting to shore up their positions for the World T20 tournament at home.
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Even though Australia has named a squad for the three-match T20 series that contains as many players as are normally taken to the United Kingdom for a three-month Ashes tour, it is clear the selectors want to try as many candidates as possible before finalising their 15-man World T20 squad next month. India’s fielding got worse as the series went on, and they got their bowling combination wrong. So why hasn’t India won anything?
Chris Lynn. Travis Head.
At his peak, Shaun Tait was one of the fastest bowlers in the world, but his star shone only briefly in global cricket.
“And for me I enjoy having Steve around, he’s obviously got a lot of experience all around the world (as well as) guys like Davey Warner and Shane Watson who have played so much”.
Some new faces, some regular and some long forgotten.
The One-Day series defeat against Australia notwithstanding, India can seek motivation from the fact that they can claim the top spot in the ICC Twenty20 worldwide rankings if they make a clean sweep in the three-match series that begins on January 26.
“Are they vying for the same spot?” Glenn Maxwell, who was also ruled out of the fifth ODI due to a hamstring injury, has not recovered yet and will miss the opener. Ashwin was immediately escorted off the field by team doctor Patrick Farhart and was given ice-packs to alleviate the pain. Hardik Pandya did spend some quality time in the nets, constantly encouraged by Virat Kohli as he bowled, and it will be interesting to see if he will get a game.
The two teams are fresh off the back of five one-dayers that saw bat completely dominate ball.
Yuvraj played his last global game against Sri Lanka in the 2014 T20 World Cup final and Nehra last appeared for India in the 2011 World Cup semi-final against Pakistan.
For India, it will be about getting their team balance right, in particular their strength, batting.
On the other hand, Kangaroos just need a series win to claim the top spot. Should he hit form immediately, he will be one of the hardest players to stop and India’s batting line-up will wear a near invincible look.
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Ravi Shastri: It’s very important. The first World Cup the three were part of together was the 2003 edition in South Africa, where the team had enjoyed an unprecedented good run of form to reach the final. It should be seen whether players like Singh and Nehra will grab this chance to impress.
