India vs Australia 2nd T20 Preview: Siddharth Kaul may replace Umesh Yadav

With an eye on ICC World Cup 2019, Indian cricket team led by Virat Kohli will look to make few changes in playing 11 when they lock horns with Australia in 2nd T20 International match at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday. India are down 0-1 after a poor batting performance in the first T20 match which Australia won by 3 wickets. Indian bowling attack led by Jasprit Bumrah did all it could to keep the home team in the game till the final over of the match while defending the below-par 126 runs.

Will Shikhar Dhawan brought back for 2nd T20?

India skipper Virat Kohli has already said that his squad composition for the World Cup in May-July is "more or less sorted" but has not ruled out rewarding standout performances over the course of two T20s and five ODIs. Considering the captain's current frame of mind, both K L Rahul and Rishabh Pant are likely to feature in most of the games against Australia.

India rested opener, Shikhar Dhawan, to give game time to Rahul, who grabbed the opportunity with both hands by smashing 50 off 36 balls in his comeback game. With the series on the line, it remains to be seen if Dhawan is brought back into the side to open alongside Rohit Sharma or the team retains the opening combination which featured in Vizag. "Anything is possible now. We want to give game time to Rahul and Pant to figure out what we need to do in the World Cup," Kohli said after the first T20.

Will Siddharth Kaul get a place in playing 11?

While Jasprit Bumrah showed his class after coming back from a break, the other pacer in Umesh Yadav leaked runs and was not able to defend 14 in the final over. India could replace Umesh with Siddharth Kaul. or bring in all-rounder Vijay Shankar to beef-up the batting department. The hosts played with a long tail in Vizag and that impacted their final total following an inexplicable batting collapse from 69 for one in the ninth over. Read Complete Article