Australian captain Aaron Finch won the toss and elected to field in the second and final T20 International against India on Wednesday in Bengaluru.
The visitors went in with an unchanged after winning the first T20I in Vizag. The hosts, on the other hand, made three changes to their team at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Vice-captain Rohit Sharma was rested and his place was taken by the experienced Shikhar Dhawan. Leg-spinner Mayank Markande, who made his debut in the previous game, was replaced by all-rounder Vijay Shankar. And Umesh Yadav, who was blamed for the loss in the first match after a horror final over, made way for Siddarth Kaul.
Indian captain Virat Kohli said that he would have liked to bowl first as well. “The Bengaluru wicket was a bit of a spoiler for the past couple of years, but it looks like it’s back to normal,” he said at the toss.
Australia won the first T20I last Sunday off the last ball of the match. Set a target of 127, after Indian opener KL Rahul’s stylish half-century, the visitors needed 14 runs from the last six deliveries of the match. Pacers Pat Cummins and Jhye Richardson ended up hitting a boundary each, off the bowling of fast-bowler Yadav, to earn a memorable victory for the Aussies.
After the T20Is, the two teams will play a five-match ODI series starting in Hyderabad on Saturday.
Playing XIs for the second T20I
India: Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Vijay Shankar, Rishabh Pant, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (w), Dinesh Karthik, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Siddarth Kaul.
Australia: D’Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Aaron Finch (c), Glenn Maxwell, Peter Handscomb (w), Ashton Turner, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Jhye Richardson, Jason Behrendorff, Adam Zampa.
