India needs young bowlers to deliver to seal the series win

Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna (Pic: AFP/File Pic)

Team India's bowling unit will look to better their performances ahead of the fourth T20I against Australia by utilising the absence of Glenn Maxwell on Friday. So far, India is leading with two victories in three matches played and Australia has won one game.

India's second-string attack did not paint a good picture of itself by not defending 40-plus runs in the final two overs in the third match which the Australians won while chasing a daunting 223-run target.

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Deepak Chahar will be added to the Indian side and keeping in mind his ability to swing the ball should be considered for his inclusion in the playing XI. Speedster Mukesh Kumar has returned to the squad after one match break.

There is a possibility of a minor tweak in the Indian line-up after Prasidh Krishna gave away 68 runs in four overs, including 21 in the final over.

With Shreyas Iyer's comeback, Tilak Varma is the only player who looks to be benched for the remaining two clashes.

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Cricket Australia (CA) released many of its top players including Maxwell midway into the series keeping in mind their workload and fitness ahead of the T20 World Cup.

Both Prasidh and Avesh Khan lack variety and innovation as they keep pitching the ball at the same length. Both bowl in the late 130s or early 140s but consistently pitch it back of the length and the nature of Indian tracks make it a cannon fodder for batters.

Also not being able to use variations like conventional or wide yorkers has been the undoing of these bowlers who also didn't execute slower deliveries properly.

India will also look to exploit the absence of a marauding Maxwell who pulled off a heist of sorts to singlehandedly bring Australia back into the five-match series with a win in a last-ball finish in Guwahati.

But the hosts will fancy their chances with Maxwell, and other influential players such as Steve Smith and Adam Zampa not figuring in the playing XI here, having left for home after a long stay in the country where they won their sixth World Cup title recently.

The Suryakumar Yadav-led second-string India are smarting from a classic Maxwell innings, and the home team bowlers will be relieved that he will not walk out to bat at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium.

Instead, they will probably be bowling to players such as Tim David, Josh Phillippe and big-hitter Ben McDermott, a far better proposition at the moment than challenging Maxwell, who has enhanced his reputation as one of Australia's greatest white-ball batters in the past five-six weeks.

The runs, and the manner and situation in which he has accumulated them, has catapulted Maxwell into a level not meant for others.

India's bowlers, though, will still have to deal with Travis Head, on a high after his scintillating match-winning hundred in the ICC World Cup 2023 final against India, and the seasoned Matthew Wade, who is leading the side in the ongoing series.

Like in Guwahati, dew could again have a say on a December evening in this part of the world, and the captain winning the toss would opt to bat second without an iota of doubt, leaving the team batting first to deal with the wet ball in the second innings.

The reinforcements have already joined the Australian squad and are available for the penultimate match of the series that started barely three days after their triumphant World Cup campaign, the tight scheduling leaving many former players surprised.

India's batting has been served well by the likes of young Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan, Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma and the skipper himself when required. These players are expected to fire again but one man whose confidence will be sky-high is Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is coming off a blazing 123 off 57 balls.

The likes of Jason Behrendorff, Kane Richardson and Tanveer Sangha could find the going tough one more time. So far, the unfriendly conditions meant the series has been a nightmare for the bowlers with five 200-plus totals in six innings, and the trend is expected to continue in the remainder of the rubber.

Squads:

India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Deepak Chahar.

Australia: Matthew Wade (capt), Jason Behrendorff, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Chris Green, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Ben McDermott, Josh Philippe, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Kane Richardson.

The match starts at 7 pm IST.

(With PTI Inputs)