Ind vs Aus 3rd T20: Virat Kohli’s men sealed the T20I series against Australia with a game to spare after a bully Hardik Pandya finished what Shikhar Dhawan had set out to achieve with a brilliant 52 of 36 balls in Sunday’s second and penultimate match. The victory has also brought India one step closer to surpassing Australia in the ICC World T20 rankings.
India will now have the third game of the T20 in view, also the last of the series, which if they manage to win will help them achieve two milestones.
First milestone: ICC T20 qualifying team
India currently ranks third in the team rankings with 269 points. They are just one point behind the Australians who are in second place with 270 points.
If India manages to win on Tuesday, it will move up to second place, beating Australia in the process. According to the ICC Team Ranking Predictor, India will get two points for the win. Australia, on the other hand, will lose two points.
England are currently ranked No. 1 in the game’s shortest format with 275 rating points from 25 matches.
Second milestone: Afghanistan’s equal winning streak record
India had surpassed Pakistan’s winning streak on Sunday after extending its undefeated T20 record to 10. It now ranks third on the list behind Afghanistan, which takes No. 1 and No. 2.
Interestingly, the India team has yet to lose a T20I in the last 12 months and their first win dates back to December 2019 against the West Indies in Mumbai. In 2020, the first T20I series India played was with Sri Lanka at home. The first game of the 3-match series was abandoned due to rain in Guwahati, while India won the other two games in Indore and Pune and sealed the series 2-0.
After that, on the New Zealand tour, India completed a 5-0 beating of the hosts with two of the matches won in a Super Over. Friday’s victory was the ninth in a row, while the second T20I victory on Sunday was the tenth in a row.
However, a victory on Tuesday will extend India’s streak to 11, equaling Afghanistan’s record. Overall, Afghanistan holds the record for the most consecutive victories in T20I, having won 12 T20I on the trot from 2018 to 2019.
