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After the surprisingly one-sided test series, one can be rest assured that the games in coloured clothing will not reflect the same at the end of what promises to be a gruelling month and a half of fast paced cricket. The limited overs leg of India's tour of Australia will kick-start on the 1st of February with India taking on a confident Australian side at the Olympic park in Sydney.

(Click here for the Match Report)

This short T20 series will have much greater significance than such T20s have had in the past for many reasons. With the T20 World Cup scheduled later this year, this will probably be the only chance for either side to test their likely combinations for that extravaganza to be played in Sri Lanka. Secondly, India will need to take these games rather seriously to break the Aussie stranglehold in this series and get some momentum back in their favour before the tri-nation ODI series that also commences next week.

Australia :

The Aussies would dearly love to keep the Indians on the mat after putting them there in the tests but will know that it won’t be an easy task considering India’s fire power and track record in the limited overs games. Besides, Australia have not been a particularly settled side in the recent past and will need to put forth their A-game to keep ahead of the Indian team. There are plenty of new and inexperienced players in their T20 squad that sure oozes with talent but it is rather difficult to predict their level of consistency as a unit so early in the piece.

Cameron White was sacked as captain and axed from the side which means they will be starting afresh, surprisingly under the reign of the uncapped top order batsman George Bailey from Tasmania, who has a reputation as being a great leader. In the absence of White, their batting will be lead by the likes of David Warner, David Hussey and the out of form Shaun Marsh. Throw in the likes of domestic veteran Travis Birt, Aaron Finch and wicketkeeper batsman Matthew Wade and that makes for a pretty gifted batting line up. All rounders Dan Christian and Mitchell Marsh will be an asset to the side, while the bowling will be spearheaded by the likes of Brett Lee and will definitely be bolstered big time by the return of quality spin in the form of chinaman bowler Bradley Hogg, albeit at the rather old age of 40.

India:

India will be desperate to get a win under their belts and get on the board in this tour and would not want a repeat of the England tour where despite playing some good cricket in the limited overs leg, they couldn’t manage to get over the line. The good news though is that this squad for the T20s and the tri series is very settled and has a lot of proven performers.

The massive improvement in India’s game will be their fielding with the infusion of some much needed young blood that will allow captain MS Dhoni to set more attacking fields if the situation so demands. The batting will be strong as ever with Sehwag and Gambhir at the top and with some good quality young players in the form of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina in the side. India could decide to go in with either Ravindra Jadeja or Irfan Pathan at no.7 with the former having the edging due to his brilliance in the field. The Bowling will in all likelihood be spearheaded by Zaheer Khan with support of Umesh Yadav and Praveen Kumar on the pace front. India is likely to play the lone spinner in the form of Ravi Ashwin.

Recent form:

India: (L L W)
29^th Oct 2011: Lost to Eng by 6 wickets·
31^stAug 2011: Lost to Eng by 6 wickets ·
4^th June 2011: Beat WI by 16 runs·

Australia: (L W L)
16^th Oct 2011: lost to SA by 3 wickets·
13^th Oct 2011: beat SA by 3 wickets

8^th Aug 2011: Lost to SL by 8 runs

Likely XIs:

India : G Gambhir, V Sehwag, V Kohli, R Sharma, S Raina, MS Dhoni, R Jadeja, R Ashwin, P Kumar, Z Khan, U Yadav

Australia: D Warner, G Bailey, S Marsh/T Birt, D Hussey, A Finch, M Wade, D Christian, B Hogg, B Lee, C Mckay, J Faulkner/M Marsh. 

Players to watch:  

Rohit Sharma: This supremely talented Mumbai Batsman was not given a run in the test matches, but he will surely want to prove his worth in the limited overs leg and break the door open in the test arena.

David Warner: this blonde bomber from New South Wales is in terrific form and his knocks in the BBL were stunning. He is likely to give the Indian bowlers all kinds of headaches in this game

Pitch and Conditions: The weather in Sydney seems good, and with the nature of the soil used in Olympic Park the same as that at the SCG, we could see a high scoring fixture 

Match Prediction: The Aussies high on confidence and having home advantage will draw first blood in the two match T20 series.

File Photograph Copyright: ICC World T20