India vs Australia 2019: India's Predicted XI for the first T20I

Spinners

#8 Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav

The 24-year-old left-arm Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav will play an important role for India in the World Cup. He has always troubled batsmen with his fast googlies and several other variations.

Kuldeep will be Virat Kohli's go to man against the Aussies, whose batting has struggled over the past few series. Because the conditions in India largely suit the spinners, he will be expected to break the momentum of the opposition in the middle overs.

#9 Mayank Markande

Mayank Markande

This is a maiden call-up for the 21-year-old leg-spinner Mayank Markande, who had shown a lot of promise in IPL 2018, taking 15 wickets in 14 matches. He was also phenomenal for India A.

Markande has been included in the side as a replacement for Yuzvendra Chahal, and he will be expected to play against Australia, as India might field 2 spinners seeing the home conditions.

Also, with Krunal Pandya not being in good form, it provides Mayank with the perfect opportunity to perform in the series, and knock the door for selection as the backup spinner in the World Cup.

Pacers

#10 Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah will be fresh after the break, which he had been given in the limited overs series against Australia and New Zealand. Bumrah had taken 21 wickets in the Tests against Australia and will be hoping to repeat the same performance against the same opponent in India as well.

He has already sealed a spot in the World Cup and will be hoping to enter it on a high note through strong performances against Australia.

#11 Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav has been out of the Indian setup since the Test series against Australia. However, his outstanding performances for Vidarbha, where he had figures of 4-90, 5-23, 7-48, 5-31, 1-59 and 1-31, has provided him with one last chance to prove himself and knock the door for the World Cup selection.

He will be playing at home, which means it will be the best chance for him to do the same. In the absence of Bhuvneshvar Kumar, the onus will be on Bumrah and Umesh to lead the pace attack.