Tournament favourites
India and Australian squared off in a warm-up match for the ICC T20 World Cup
and the men in blue emerged on top with a comfortable win over the kangaroos.

The team was captained by Rohit Sharma as the management decided to rest Virat
Kohli
, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami for this fixture and the opener performed his role to perfection. In the
batting department Rohit, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav put in impressive
performances.

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Australia won the toss
and chose to bat first at the ICC Academy Ground but got into trouble in the
early stages of the innings as they lost David Warner (1 run in 7 balls) in the
second over which was followed by Mitchell Marsh departing to the pavilion for
a duck on the very next ball.

The third wicket followed
quickly as Aaron Finch misjudged Ravindra Jadeja’s ball. Australia looked in a delicate
position as they stood on 11 runs with 3 wickets lost in 3.1 overs. However, a
partnership between Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell helped settle things down. 

Maxwell’s departure at
the end of the eleventh over did not hurt Australia much as Marcus Stoinis who
came on to replace him smashed 41 runs off 25 balls and on the other end Smith
scored 57 runs in 48 balls.

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The Australians put up
a respectable total of 152 runs on the board as we saw seven players bowling
for India. Indian skipper Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin and Varun
Chakravarthy all bowled two overs. While we also saw Shardul Thakur, Rahul
Chahar, Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar plying their trade.

The Indian team opened
their batting with a pairing of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma, the two men did not disappoint.
Rahul scored 39 runs with a strike rate of 125, something he will be looking to
improve in the following fixtures, before getting caught by David Warner on Ashton
Agar’s delivery.

Suryakumar Yadav took
the centre stage following the opener’s departure and looked to regain his form
as he scored 38 runs in 27 balls not out. He scored 5 fours and 1 six at a
strike rate of 140.74. The Indian fans will be hoping for him to maintain this
rhythm going into the tournament.

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Rohit Sharma scored 60
runs in 41 balls before leaving the pitch ‘Retired Hurt’ in order to allow
Hardik Pandya some time on the batting pitch. He smashed bowlers all around the
park as he played a captain’s knock which ensured victory for his side.
Meanwhile, the all rounder scored 14 runs in 8 balls not out.

India’s first match in
the T20 World Cup is against arch rivals Pakistan on October 24 at the Dubai
International Stadium.