The India vs Australia T20 series kicked off in Canberra, where Australia won the toss and decided to bowl first. After the toss, both teams revealed their playing elevens, and India’s selection raised quite a few eyebrows — the team decided to drop their No. 1 T20 bowler, Arshdeep Singh, from the playing XI. In his place, young pacer Harshit Rana has been given a chance.

Arshdeep Singh’s exclusion surprised many, as he holds the record for being India’s leading wicket-taker in T20 Internationals with 101 wickets in 65 matches. He is also the first Indian bowler to cross the 100-wicket mark in T20Is and has prior experience playing in Australian conditions. Despite this, the team management opted to rest him for the opening game, a move that has left fans puzzled.

Harshit Rana, who replaces Arshdeep, will be playing his first international match in Australia. Alongside him, four other Indian players — Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Shivam Dube, and Varun Chakravarthy — are also making their debut on Australian soil. This makes a total of five Indian cricketers experiencing Australian conditions for the first time in this series.

Team India is being led by Suryakumar Yadav, who boasts an impressive captaincy record with a win percentage of over 80 in T20Is. This is only the second T20I match between India and Australia to be played in Canberra — the last encounter took place in 2020, where India defended a total of 161 runs to claim victory.

India’s Playing XI:
Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Harshit Rana, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah

Australia’s Playing XI:
Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (captain), Josh Inglis, Tim David, Mitchell Owen, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Philippe, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood