Harshit Rana, Abhishek Sharma & Varun Chakaravarthy only positives as Josh Hazlewood destroys India

The first T20I was washed out and with 3 matches remaining, Australia has taken a 1-0 lead in the series.

India has gone down 0-1 in the 5-match T20I series against Australia. Put into bat, the visitors faced a menacing Josh Hazlewood. The tall pacer claimed the wickets of Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, and Tilak Varma by the 5th. Nathan Ellis struck as well, and India were 40/4 after the powerplay.

Abhishek Sharma and Harshit Rana save grace

Australian captain Mitchell Marsh decided to bowl Hazlewood, and he finished with 13/3. The India vs Australia 2nd T20I was pretty much over then. From that moment on, India played catch-up. Axar Patel departed early, and the visitors were 49/5.

From there, Abhishek Sharma and Harshit Rana fought back valiantly. The former scored 68 of India’s 125 runs, and that too in just 37 balls. He was the second-last wicket to fall, and if he had had more help, India might have crossed the 150-run mark. But Harshit was the main positive.

Everyone already knows what Abhishek can do, but Harshit displayed his batting potential for the first time. He scored 35 from 33. His main job was to hold one end, and that’s what he did. Mind you, apart from Harshit and Abhishek, no other Indian batter even entered double digits.

Spinners impress, but India too short

The score wasn’t great, but it was enough to fight. But India’s pacers didn’t go so well. The pitch was still aiding them, but neither Jasprit Bumrah nor Harshit Rana was on the money. Bumrah bowled a few gems, but didn’t stay tight for long for Marsh or Travis Head.

Harshit undid all the brilliance with the new ball. As has been the case with him, he was wayward. Offered too many freebies. Australia had already scored 49 after 4 overs, but Varun Chakaravarthy brought India back with Head’s wicket. Marsh demolished Kuldeep Yadav, scoring 20 runs off his first 5 balls but falling on the last one.

Varun and Kuldeep continued to work their magic, and although Australia were 121/4, they needed just 6 to win from 8 overs. That’s when Suryakumar brought Bumrah back for his last over, and he took 2 wickets, Mitchell Owen and Matthew Short, to improve the scoreline a bit.

But it was a comprehensive loss, and the powerplay bowling issues, even with Bumrah in the team, were highlighted once again as Australia chased the target down in just 13.2 overs.