3 concerns for India despite back-to-back wins over Australia in the T20I series

Team India have attained a near-unassailable 2-0 lead in the ongoing five-match T20I series against Australia on home soil. The Men in Blue registered a comprehensive 44-run in the second T20I on Sunday to start their road to the T20 World Cup 2024 on a positive note.

Suryakumar Yadav, in his maiden captaincy stint, has led the second-string Indian outfit efficiently. The blistering form of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan, and Rinku Singh come across as huge positives so far. India can now tilt towards the direction of experimentation, with the series almost close to sealing.

All eyes will be on the likes of Washington Sundar, Shreyas Iyer, Avesh Khan, and Shivam Dube for the remainder of the series. All of the aforementioned names are in desperate need of good performances under their belt to make a strong case for the Team India squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup.

While the hosts do have a 2-0 lead in the series, the displays have not been perfect and there is certainly room for improvement.

On that note, here are three concerns for India despite back-to-back wins over Australia in the T20I series.

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#1 Sixth bowling option

The second-string Indian squad, in the absence of all-rounders like Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, are struggling with their sixth bowling option. India do have Tilak Varma as a potential part-time bowling option in the playing XI, but there has not been an ideal circumstance to bring him into the attack, in what has been a very high-scoring series so far.

Much like the Asian Games 2023 campaign, Team India are operating with five bowlers - three pacers and two spinners. Modern-day cricket demands a potential sixth bowling option, and the frontline Indian bowlers in the series have been on the receiving end of runs by the Australian batters.

This arguably proves to be a concern that has no feasible solution. Introducing another all-rounder or bowler for a batter in the top six would not be ideal. Even on the bench, there are no batters that can chip in with a few overs, leaving Tilak as the only option to help out the bowling attack if needed.

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#2 Pace bowling in powerplay

Team India have had a versatile pace attack of Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, and Mukesh Kumar for the first set of matches in the series. The trio have complemented well together, with Arshdeep largely handling the new-ball duties while Mukesh has been proficient in the death.

However, as a unit, they have not bowled well with the new ball as they would have liked to. The conditions certainly have not helped their case, especially the extreme dew in the second T20I. The poor outing by the pacers in the powerplay has forced skipper Suryakumar Yadav to bring on the spinners early.

Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel bowled four overs in the powerplay after the pacers were hit for 31 runs in the first two overs of the second T20I.

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#3 Lack of uniformity in the batting template

While India have posted a mammoth total across both matches so far, their batting template has not been as consistent as it can be. Driven by intent, the host batters have tried to stick to their roles, but it still needs some polishing.

Ruturaj Gaikwad is not as explosive as the other batters in the line-up, but his ability to hold one end makes him a solid choice at the top. Furthermore, Ishan Kishan has notched up two successive fifties but has been sluggish at the start, which has been an issue for him for quite some while.

Team India struggled to get going at first when the pair of Ruturaj and Kishan were batting together. The duo only scored 29 runs in five overs in the second T20I, before picking things up.

While the rest of the unit contributed to help India post a commanding total, such a massive dropoff in the middle order in good batting conditions may prove to be costly the next time around.

Will Team India seal the series in the upcoming third T20I of the series? Let us know what you think.