It was on 26 March 2015 when Australia beat India in the ODI World Cup semi final in Sydney.
Now, many things have been changed: venue has been shifted from Australia to India, the game is only 20 overs and the pre match odds are favouring the hosts.
But one thing remains the same - it is a do-or-die match for both teams, as it was last year. It is a knock-out match before the knock-out stage. Australia takes on India at the PCA stadium in Mohali, Punjab, tonight at 7.30pm local time (1.00am AEDT)
With New Zealand already securing the semi-final berth with eight points, Australia and India are competing for the second spot from the group 2. Both the teams have four pointe each, with two wins and one defeat.
It simply means, whoever wins today will play West Indies in the semi final on Thursday. A Quarter Final? Yes you can call so…
Aussies under more pressure?
In Test cricket or ODIs Australia can be called the favourites when they play India - or any side in the world. But, when it comes to T20 cricket, the Aussies are yet to prove it.
The five time world champions in ODI cricket is yet to touch their hands on this short-version trophy. If they can’t win against India tonight, Australia has to wait for two more years for the next edition at home.
Australia’s T20 records against India are not so great in the recent times. Earlier this year they have gone down to India 0-3 on home soil.
At the same time, India will be trying hard to take revenge for last year’s defeat. Indians have a habit of taking maximum advantage of the home situations, especially against Australia.
In this tournament, both teams have many similarities though. Both have lost to New Zealand, gone past Bangladesh with a bit of luck and defeated Pakistan emphatically.
Indian batsmen, who are famous in their skills against spinners, were not up to mark yet, with an exception of Virat Kohli. New Zealand spin-trio has exposed this in the first game.
But the fact that Australia doesn’t have a spinner of that quality might be a question mark tonight. Adam Zampa will be facing the toughest challenge in his short international career tonight.
On a Mohali wicket which will have less spin, Australia is expecting another good spell from James Faulkner as the one we have seen against Pakistan. Otherwise, Australian bowling attack is one of the weakest we have seen recently.
Team Structure
Australia couldn’t find its perfect 11 in this tournament yet, and 14 of their 15 member squad has already played on game at least.
On the contrary, India is sticking to its 11 from the very first match. But Virat Kohli is the only consistent batsman in the previous matches. Shikhar Dhawan (average: 10) Rohit Sharma (11) and Suresh Rain (10.33) are not at their best yet. If Mohali wicket gives a bit to the batsmen, Indian fans will be waiting for some big hits from Shamra and Raina.
India’s bowling is doing considerably well in the World Cup. Ravichandran Aswhin’s opening spell has always paid off, and the contributions of Raveendra Jadeja also did matter. How far Usman Khawaja, David Warner and Glen Maxwell overcome this spin attack is the question to be answered tonight.
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