Australia vs India, third T20I: With momentum firmly on their side, Kohli and Co eye clean sweep

Momentum is a funny thing in sport. In the age of data and sports science, maybe no one can exactly define how an intangible factor like that can influence results so much. And on India’s tour of Australia, after starting off with two convincing One Day International defeats and staring at a clean sweep late in the third match, Virat Kohli and Co are in position to potentially inflict that fate on the hosts.

When Glenn Maxwell was going berserk in the third ODI in Canberra and a 3-0 result likely when nearly 90% of the match was completed, Jasprit Bumrah bowled a yorker that changed the fate of that match. And since then, India have won three white-ball matches on the trot to salvage pride in the ODI series and clinch the T20Is. It marked the ninth consecutive win for India in the shortest format, and they are in a position to complete a Trans-Tasman whitewash after their 5-0 win in New Zealand earlier this year.

The series pocketed and their confidence restored, India would not like to let the pressure go when they take on an Australian side significantly weakened by injury blows, in the third and final T20 International at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday.

While there was been considerable focus on Australia missing their key players, it is worth noting that India’s series win has happened without the services of arguably two of their most important T20 players in Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah, something that Kohli was quick to point out after the win on Sunday.

Power and poise: Big-hitting Hardik Pandya is turning into the finisher India needed after MS Dhoni

The skipper, however, saw his trump card Hardik Pandya step up and deliver in style. Kohli will now feel a sense of deja vu given that the script has panned out exactly like 2016 when the team got walloped in the ODIs but came back strongly to rout the Aussies 3-0 in the T20 International series.

The series started off with a win that was somewhat marred by the concussion substitute drama bit the fact that India played better cricket in the big moments should not be overlooked.

Despite losing the services of in-form Ravindra Jadeja after his starring role with the bat in India’s turnaround, the batting unit stepped up for the thrilling six-wicket win in the series-clinching second T20 on Sunday.

What will boost the Indian team’s morale is the fact that they had the confidence to rest both Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, relying on a troika of pacers, who between them haven’t played even 40 games collectively.

India’s newest white-ball cricketer T Natarajan has had a superb initiation to international cricket with Australian batsmen still finding it difficult to read him. As Pandya so rightly put it, Natarajan’s spell of 2/20 in a high-scoring game became the difference between winning and losing on Sunday.

The other difference between India and Australia during the last game was the batting of the two teams during the middle overs. Australia lost a bit of momentum after stand-in skipper Matthew Wade was dismissed while his opposite number Kohli played some outrageous shots after the Powerplay to up the ante.

Shreyas Iyer’s induction in place of an injured Manish Pandey also worked well for the visitors. Sanju Samson, too, helped in upping the ante but he would be keen to find a match-winning knock in the third game.

Perhaps the only glitch in an otherwise solid show was Yuzvendra Chahal’s rare off-day. Not having a sixth bowling option meant that Kohli was forced to have his premier leg-spinner complete his quota.

With the likes of Mayank Agarwal, Jasprit Bumrah already getting their Test series preparations underway, India could well stick to their winning combination for the third match too.

For Australia, the absence of regular skipper Aaron Finch, David Warner, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood did have an impact although three of the five played in the first T20 International that India comfortably won by 11 runs.

D’Arcy Short hasn’t looked the part as an opener in the two games and one would expect Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell to shoulder more responsibility as senior players. One of the big positives for the hosts was the blistering knock played by their stand-in captain Matthew Wade.

But, after having failed to defend a 190-plus target, Australia’s thin-on-experience bowlers will have to play out of their skins to avoid another T20I series whitewash at home against India.

Squads:

India: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (vice-captain and wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, T Natarajan, Shardul Thakur.

Australia: Matthew Wade (Captain), Sean Abbott, Mitchell Swepson, Alex Carey, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Sams, Steven Smith, Marcus Stoinis, D’’Arcy Short, Adam Zampa, Andrew Tye.

Match starts 1.40 PM IST and will be broadcast live on Sony Sports Pictures Network