Having notched-up an impressive victory against England ahead of the T20 World Cup, India will look to build on the momentum when they take on Australia in their second and final warm-up game in Dubai on Wednesday.

India will clash against Pakistan in their opener on Sunday. The tournament will be Virat Kohli’s last as skipper in the format besides being the swan-song for head coach Ravi Shastri.

As pointed out by Kohli before the warm-up game against England on Monday, India’s top three is already settled with KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma opening the batting and the skipper coming in at the crucial No 3 position.

T20 World Cup: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan – who should open for India?

Having made a stroke-filled 70 before retiring in the seven-wicket win over England, young Ishan Kishan has also staked his claim for a place in the playing XI.

Rishabh Pant (29 not out) was promoted ahead of Suryakumar Yadav and it remains to be seen where the will latter bat against Australia.

Rohit didn’t bat against England and come Wednesday, the right-hander is expected to get a go against Aaron Finch and Co.

The big talking point, however, remains all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who didn’t look comfortable in his brief stay against England.

T20 World Cup, India v England warm-up match as it happened: Rahul, Ishan shine in good win

With Pandya not bowling, it remains to be seen whether the Indian think-tank will play him purely as a batter. Without his bowling, India will also miss the sixth bowling option in case one of the five-strong attack has an off day on the field.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar had one against England on Monday, but Jasprit Bumrah was close to his best. Mohammed Shami picked up three wickets but went for runs, while Rahul Chahar was taken to task by the English batters.

And come Wednesday, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur and Varun Chakravarthy are expected to get a look-in before the main tournament begins.

On recent form, since losing the home series against Australia 2-0 before the 2019 ODI World Cup, India were unbeaten in eight T20I series in a row. Since the 2016 T20 World Cup, India have played 72 T20 matches and won 45.

Australia, too, made a winning start to their preparations with Josh Inglis hitting two fours in the final over to help his side beat New Zealand by three wickets in their warm-up match in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

However, senior batter David Warner’s poor run continued as he was dismissed for a first-ball duck.

Adam Zampa (2/17) and Kane Richardson (3/24) impressed with the ball, but a middle-order collapse meant the Australians needed late cameos from Ashton Agar (23 off 18 balls), Mitchell Starc (13 not out off 9) and Inglis (8 not out off 2) to secure the win.

Squads

India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur.

Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins (vc), Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa.

Match starts at 7.30pm.

Inputs from PTI