IND vs AUS third T20I | Upbeat India will be keen to seal the series straightaway

Australia's Jason Behrendorff returns to Guwahati, scene of his 'Player-of-the-Match' performance in 2017. He may get an opportunity in the 3rd T20I as India, with an inexperienced side, lead the series 2-0. Australia must improve to reduce the boundary balls of the Indian top-order and counter their balanced attack. Umpires, match referee and match start time also announced.

As Jason Behrendorff got off the plane at the Guwahati Airport on a cool Monday evening, he might well have been warmed by the memories from six years ago.

In the first ever international game at the ACA Stadium here, the left-arm seamer was the ‘Player-of-the-Match’, in the second T20I of that India-Australia series. He had taken four for 21, in only his second international game; among his victims were Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

Cut to the present, Behrendorff has had to sit out during the second T20I at Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday, as the visitors chose to play two spinners. They didn’t gain much from the change of strategy against an intimidating young Indian top-order.

Given the fact that Behrendorff was the bowler who earned most respect from the merciless Indian batters in the opening T20I — he gave away 6.25 runs per over while everyone else averaged at least 11 — he could get an opportunity in the third T20I on Tuesday. He isn’t the only member of the current Australian squad that figured in the comfortable eight-wicket win back in 2017.

Glenn Maxwell, Travis Head, Adam Zampa and Marcus Stoinis were also there. If you wonder how many of this Indian side played in that match, the answer is zero.

That doesn’t tell merely that India has moved on from the M.S. Dhoni era, but it shows the amazing depth of its cricket. That this inexperienced Indian side is leading the five-match series 2-0 underlines the fact.

The Indians should be hoping to make it 3-0 and thus clinch the series with two games remaining. But as the World Cup final reminded us only a few days ago, cricket’s greatest charm is its uncertainty. And Australia, though it is without some of its big stars including skipper Pat Cummins, boasts some of the proudest men in sport.