Australia won the draw against India and chose the field
Resplendent in an Aboriginal-patterned uniform, Australia’s captain Aaron Finch won the draw and chose to send India at bat in the first T20I of a three-game series at Manuka Oval in Canberra.
Australia got Mitchell Starc back in shape to play after he missed the final ODI on Wednesday with a minor side injury, and chose D’Arcy Short at the top of the order alongside Finch. Ashton Agar was ruled as expected for a calf strain suffered at ODI, and was replaced by Mitchell Swepson for his first international match since June 2018.
In all, Short, Swepson, Sean Abbott and Moises Henriques were inclusions from Australia’s previous T20I lineup, replacing Agar, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Marsh and Kane Richardson. Matthew Wade retained the gloves at Alex Carey’s expense.
India rested Jasprit Bumrah after he played all three ODIs and gave T Natarajan a T20I debut, also choosing to place KL Rahul at the top of the standings alongside Shikhar Dhawan, with Virat Kohli at No. 3.
Australia: Aaron Finch (captain), D’Arcy Short, Matthew Wade (week), Steven Smith, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Sean Abbott, Mitch Starc, Mitch Swepson, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
India: Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul (week), Virat Kohli (capt), Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, T Natarajan
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