Australia have won the toss and have opted to field

Here's what our man Pratyush Sinha, who's at the venue, has to say; "Hello from Thiruvananthapuram! Glenn Maxwell has been spotted practicing high catching in the deep while Travis Head shared a laugh with captain Matthew Wade. From the activities in the middle, Prasidh, Mukesh and Arshdeep look set to be the three seamers for India once again."

Pitch report by Matthew Hayden and Murali Karthik: It's a great wicket, doesn't have a lot of grass. The grass that's there is in patches so there could be inconsistent bounce. There could be some pace and turn. There's heavy dew expected around 7:30pm. The call would be to chase on this wicket.

6pm local: Just 2 days on from the last game and the bandwagon has moved, set-up and gotten ready to get cracking again more than 1200km southwards of Visakhapatnam. Doubts were cast over the weather and if it'll allow for any play if not a full game but it seems to have cleared up in Thiruvananthapuram and the forecasts look great. The previous game saw India track down a record target and a win that night will be but a stepping stone to India's broader goals - firstly to win the series and secondly to give these youngsters a great opportunity to show their mettle. As for Australia, still riding the highs of winnings a Cricket World Cup, a loss in a relatively low stakes T20 game wouldn't have done much in the way of denting the morale or deflating the spirits. If anything, they might even turn up stronger tonight with some of their World Cup stars possibly returning to the field. That then sets the stage for what should be another cracking game. Toss and teams coming your way shortly.

Preview by Pratyush Sinha

To Thiruvananthapuram then, which is as far south as international cricket travels in India. When the Greenfield International Stadium here made its international cricket debut in 2017, the then India captain Virat Kohli had expressed "surprise" at why the venue hadn't hosted games earlier, so impressed he was with the outfield, the crowd and facilities in general. Six years later, this second T20I between India and Australia is going to be the sixth international cricket game here despite a two-year Covid timeout. That's impressive by Indian standards, given there are so many venues to choose from.

Once again, the challenge upfront will be about adjusting to the nuances of conditions at this venue. Compared to Visakhapatnam, the pitch in this coastal city is likely to be slower, the bounce lower and the sun hotter, but India of all teams would know that conditions alone won't be enough to stump Australia.

India of course come into this game full of confidence, having pulled off their highest successful T20I run-chase despite a squad rife with inexperience. Mukesh Kumar's immaculate death bowling, Rinku Singh's finishing skills and the overall intent from everyone, including Yashasvi, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav the captain himself, was notable but there's work to be done, especially with regards to running between the wickets. The first match saw as many as three run-outs, a joint-most for India in the format.


For Australia, Josh Inglis's 47-ball hundred and Jason Behrendorff's frugal spell with the ball, which saw him adeptly use slower deliveries on a true batting surface, stood out in a close two-wicket defeat. And the team would have left Visakhapatnam knowing that it was a match that could have easily gone their way, so less separated the two teams. They would ideally want to touch down in Guwahati one-all.

When: India vs Australia, 2nd T20I, Sunday, 26 November 2023, 7:00pm local

Where: Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram

What to expect: Some help in the surface for the bowlers. In the last T20I here, South Africa were reduced to 9/5 in 2.3 overs by Arshdeep Singh and Deepak Chahar. More recently here, Mitchell Starc picked up a hat-trick in the ODI World Cup warm-up match against Netherlands.

The pitch, which also looks ripe for slow turn, is located towards one side of the square, so expect the two captains to be wary of the shorter side while picking the ends for their bowlers. The bounce test, conducted by the groundsmen on the eve of the game, suggested that good length balls should bounce only as high as the shin.

Crowd attendances have been hot and cold at this venue, and how full (or not) this 50,000-seat stadium would look during the match is anybody's guess. It rained heavily on the match eve but no disruptions are expected for the game.

Team News

India

The team could ideally stick to their winning combination but it would come with the familiar constraint of operating with four frontline bowlers and the all-round skills of Axar Patel. Luckily though, they have Tilak Varma who could roll his arm over on a slightly more spin-friendly pitch here in Thiruvananthapuram.

Washington Sundar and Jitesh Sharma, both of whom didn't play the first T20I, spent some one-on-one time with bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule during India's practice session on match eve.

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

Australia

Fast bowler Jason Behrendorff confirmed that everyone is available for selection for this match but don't be too surprised if Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa get some more time to put their feet up. That said, Glenn Maxwell's offbreaks against India's stream of left-handers would not be a bad idea.

Probable XI: Matthew Short, Steven Smith, Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade(w/c), Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Jason Behrendorff, Tanveer Sangha

Did you know?

No one has scored more T20I runs than Suryakumar Yadav in the middle-overs since 2021

Across 6 T20Is, Rinku Singh averages 97 with a strike-rate of 194

Mukesh Kumar, one of the top performers in the first T20I, came in off cold performances in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, having picked only two wickets across five games and having conceded runs at an economy rate of 10.29

What they said

"Yeah, give the ball to someone else" - Jason Behrendorff is tongue-in-cheek while speaking of his bowling plans against Suryakumar Yadav

"I like finishing games too and I am learning from Rinku [Singh]. He's doing it very consistently for India" - Tilak Varma

Squads:

India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan(w), Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube

Australia Squad: Steven Smith, Matthew Short, Josh Inglis, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Aaron Hardie, Matthew Wade(w/c), Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, Jason Behrendorff, Tanveer Sangha, Kane Richardson, Glenn Maxwell, Travis Head, Adam Zampa