Australia Vs India 1st T20 at Stadium Australia, Sydney

India vs Australia 1st T-20 to be played at Stadium Australia (Stadium Australia Telstra Stadium) on Wednesday, Feb 1st.2012. A new format could possibly bring about a change in India’s fortunes Down Under. Suresh Raina, Manoj Tiwary, Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Parthiv Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Rahul Sharma will be in Indian Playing XI for the limited overs matches. Suresh Raina is the only player to have scored a century in T20Is for India. He also has the highest average (32.39) among Indians who have played more than two matches.

The Indians slumped to their lowest ebb in the longer version last week when Australia mauled the visitors by a 4-0 margin in the Test series.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni expects the fresh faces for the two twenty20 internationals and the triangular ODI series to enhance the performances of the team.

Playing Squad :

India:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel, Rahul Sharma, Zaheer Khan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja and Manoj Tiwary.

Australia:

George Bailey (capt), David Warner, Travis Birt, Daniel Christian, Xavier Doherty, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, David Hussey, Brett Lee, Clint McKay, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Matthew Wade and Brad Hogg.

The Indian fielding could sport a vastly improved look with the possible inclusion of Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Manoj Tiwary and Ravindra Jadeja in the playing eleven. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are likely to open the Indian innings.

Brad Hogg will become the third 40-plus player to appear in a Twenty20 international. Only Sanath Jayasuriya (41 years 360 days) and S Dhaniram (41 years 116 days) have played in this format at an older age than Hogg.