Hyderabad: The third T20 between Virat Kohli’s India and David Warner-led Australia on Friday came to an unfortunate end as the match was abandoned due to wet outfield. With this result, both the teams have shared the T20 trophy, with the hosts having won the first game and the Aussies bouncing back in the second.
However, more than 29,000 spectators who came to watch the match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium had to go back without witnessing any cricket.
This was the best chance for David Warner’s men, as they were keen on signing off the tour with a trophy in their cabinet.
Even before the match, there were speculations of rain and thunderstorm.
While Virat Kohli and co will take short break before regrouping for the limited-overs series against New Zealand starting on October 22, the Australian cricket team will head back home and will hope to be fully prepared on time for the Ashes series against England at their home turf, starting in November.
Weather update
Not so good news for cricket fans who have been waiting for this match, as the toss has been delayed.
The toss has been delayed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium. Next inspection at 7 PM IST. #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/C3zRLSobI9
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 13, 2017
Hyderabad: Team India captain Virat Kohli will once again lead his side during their decider against David Warner-led Australia in the final T20 here on Friday.
Having won the first T20 quite comfortably against the Aussies, completing a nine-wicket win, the visitors bounced back in the second match to clinch a convincing ewight-wicket win, thanks to an all-round performance.
The visitors will hope to travel back home with the T20 trophy at least, after having lost the ODI series 4-1 against a formidable Indian side.
For David Warner, though, the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here is a familiar ground, as he led Sunrisers Hyderabad to the Indian Premier League triumph back in 2016, when his team defeated favourites Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final at the M Chinaswamy Stadium.
Meanwhile, the Men in Blue will take this as an opportunity to test their squad ahead of the next ICC World T20, to be held in 2020.
It will also be interesting to see if Virat Kohli will give pacer Ashish Nehra a game in the decider. Ashish Nehra on Thursday had announced that he would be retiring from all formats of the game after the first T20 between India and New Zealand at Feroz Shah Kotla, his home ground, on November 1.
All eyes will, however, be on the weather, as there is forecast of rain later in the night.
Teams:
India: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma (vice-capt), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Axar Patel.
Australia: David Warner (capt), Jason Behrendorff, Marcus Stoinis, Dan Christian, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine (wk), Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa, Andrew Tye.
