Australia vs India Super Eight T20 Match Preview

India vs. Australia Super Eight T20 match is among the most crucial match of this tournament. After the comprehensive victory against England and Harbhajan Singh`s brilliant comeback has raised questions as to what exactly will be a winning combination against George Bailey`s men who have looked good in both their group league matches against Ireland and West Indies respectively. Australia would love to prove to the world that it has not lost its winning touch and that despite being placed at the bottom in Twenty20 world cricket, they have the same flair and touch of invincibility as before.

India, on the other hand will try to come with similar performance they came against England. India won the most convincing match in this tournament against any super-8 team. Indian batting was impeccable and bowling was superb. Even the fielding against England was exceptional and that contributed to a great extent in winning the one-sided tournament.

India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni indicated Thursday that he would be going in with five bowlers against Australia in Friday’s crucial Super Eights match of the World Twenty20 tournament, a move which will mean that India will have one batsman short. India are likely to go in with five specialist bowlers to plug their bowling loopholes when they take on the mighty Australians in its opening `Super Eight` fixture of the ICC World Twenty20 on Friday.

In that case, either opener Virender Sehwag or Yuvraj Singh may have to sit out of the match and Dhoni admitted that it would be a "tough decision". It will be interesting to see what bowling combination Dhoni would prefer for the first `super eight` game and whether he would opt for three spinners or three pacers. On current form, Lakshmipathy Balaji is a better bowler at the death overs than the 33-year-old Zaheer Khan mainly because of the variety of slower deliveries he bowls.

The two key batsmen in the Australian set-up are left-handers David Warner and Mike Hussey. The presence of the duo at the top of the order certainly means that Harbhajan`s inclusion is necessary because of his stupendous record against the left-handers. Ravichandran Ashwin, who was rested against England, will also make a comeback into the playing eleven and Irfan Pathan, who has been providing the team with breakthroughs regularly is certain to play in eleven. The batting, however, bears a much more settled look with the good news being that Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma are back among runs. The only thing to worry will be Yuvraj Singh`s place in batting order. The talented left-hander has been struggling with the bat.

The main threat for India will be all-rounder Shane Watson who is in prime form having won back-to-back MoM awards. Watson has been cleverly used by skipper Bailey as he has proved to be a potent partnership breaker. The Indian batsmen will need to be careful against Watson. Left-arm seamer Mitchell Starc can prove to be a handful but it will be chinaman bowler Brad Hogg who will need to play a big role. The only problem for Australia will be its middle-order which hasn`t been tested in the two matches which were single-handedly won by Watson. The all-rounder has taken full advantage of the Powerplay overs to slaughter the bowlers. With Warner and Hussey for company, the `terrific trio` make up for a superb top-order.

Key players

Australia: Shane Watson, Michael Hussey, David Warner, Brad Hogg, Pat Cummins 

India: Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj, Harbhajan Singh, Ravichandran Ashwin.