2nd T20I preview: Australia and India to clash in Melbourne
What's the story
Australia and India will clash in the second match of their five-match T20I series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 31. It must be noted that rain interrupted the opening game in Canberra, resulting in no result. The two teams will now look to open their account in the second clash. Here is the preview of the game.
Match forecast
A look at the MCG pitch report
The pitch at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is expected to be balanced, favoring both batters and bowlers. The pace and bounce of the wicket will encourage aggressive batting, while providing assistance to bowlers who can bowl in the right areas. The match, which will get underway at 1:45pm IST, will be telecast live on Star Sports Networks in India, with live streaming available on the JioHotstar app and website.
Game disruption
Only 9.4 overs of play was possible in opener
Shubman Gill and captain Suryakumar Yadav stabilized the innings after India lost opener Abhishek Sharma (19) in the abandoned opener. Despite a rain interruption that reduced the match to 18 overs per side, Gill finished unbeaten on 37 off 20 balls as India were in a strong position of 97/1 in 9.4 overs when the game was completely washed out. SKY made 39* off just 24 balls.
H2H '
Here's the head-to-head record
The two teams have locked horns in 33 T20Is to date, with India winning 20. While Australia have prevailed in 11 games, two were abandoned. According to ESPNcricinfo, India have a 7-4 win-loss record against Australia Down Under. They also lead 10-5 against Australia at home. Notably, Australia have never defeated India in a home T20I series (multiple matches). At the MCG, the Indian team has two wins and a solitary defeat against the hosts in T20Is.
Team predictions
A look at the probable XIs
Australia's predicted playing XI: Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Mitchell Owen, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Philippe, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood. India's predicted playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.
Stats
Here are the key performers
With 314 runs from seven matches at an impressive strike rate of 200, Abhishek Sharma was the highest run-getter of the 2025 T20 Asia Cup. Kuldeep Yadav claimed 17 wickets from seven matches at an incredible average of 9.29 in the campaign. Mitchell Marsh's 367 T20I runs in 2025 have come at an average of 40.77 and a strike rate of 164.57. Josh Hazlewood has claimed 31 wickets from 19 T20s this year at 18.45.
Poll
