India vs Australia 1st T20I predicted XI: Ishan Kishan to play, Steve Smith to open?

After a pulsating World Cup 2023 final, India and Australia will renew their rivalry in the T20I format as both teams will clash in Vishakapatnam in the first match of the series.

India will be aiming to get their mind away from the final loss in Ahmedabad and look towards the future and build towards the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA next June.

Both teams have several big names missing from their lineup after the hectic World Cup schedule, but there are still a few names from the respective squads for the tournament. For India, Suryakumar Yadav will take up the role of captain with Hardik Pandya injured.

Shreyas Iyer will be joining the side in time for the fourth T20I and will assume the role of vice-captain. Ruturaj Gaikwad will be assuming the role of deputy to Suryakumar till then. Australia have named Matthew Wade as their captain and will bring back the likes of Matthew Short and Tim David back into the lineup as well.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at how both teams could line up on Thursday.

India vs Australia Predicted XI for 1st T20I

Let’s start with the Indian team. The biggest question surrounding the team would be Ishan Kishan. The left-handed batter was part of the squads for both the Asia Cup and World Cup. However, it was interesting to see that Kishan was used in the middle-order during the Asia Cup.

The 25-year-old has always batted at the top of the order in T20s, especially in the IPL for Mumbai Indians. His teammate at MI, and the stand-in skipper, Surykaumar, did allude to the fact that the flexibility offered by Kishan in the Asia Cup could be used during the upcoming series.

If that’s the case, we could potentially see the southpaw being experimented in the middle-order for the match in Vizag at least. The openers will be Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal, followed by Tilak Varma, who has been impressive for the side.

Suryakumar will come in at his favorite No.4 spot and then could be followed by Kishan. Rinku Singh will be expected to play the finisher role for the side and we could see the return of Axar Patel as well. India could go with the pace trio of Mukesh Kumar, Prasidh Krishna and Arshdeep Singh.

Ravi Bishnoi will act as the main spinner.

For Australia, they are expected to not be with their World Cup 2023 final hero Travis Head. If that’s the case, we could see Steve Smith open the batting alongside captain and wicket-keeper Wade. Before the World Cup, Smith was supposed to be used as an opener in the T20I series against South Africa, but an injury prevented this from happening.

Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis are expected to be in the lineup with Tim David providing the finisher’s role. Aaron Hardie could be used as a floater in the side. Beherendoff, Abbott and Richardson could form the pace trio for the visitors. Tanveer Sangha will be taking up the role of the spinner, with Adam Zampa expected to take rest.

India Predicted XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (wk), Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Prasidh Krishna

Australia Predicted XI: Steve Smith, Matthew Wade (C&WK), Matthew Short, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Aaron Hardie, Tanveer Sangha, Jason Beherendoff, Sean Abbott, Kane Richardson.