IND vs AUS Live Score, 1st T20I: Suryakumar Yadav’s poor form in focus; India vs Australia in Canberra

IND vs AUS Live Score, 1st T20I: India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav faces pressure to improve his batting performance as he leads the team against Australia in the opening T20 International match in Canberra on Wednesday. Both teams enter the series with strong recent records, each winning eight of their last 10 T20I games, setting the stage for an evenly matched contest.

The Indian T20 team has demonstrated impressive adaptability under Suryakumar’s leadership, with new players seamlessly integrating into their roles. Since becoming captain, he has achieved 23 wins in 29 games, implementing an aggressive cricket strategy.

Suryakumar’s captaincy has yielded successful results, including bilateral series victories and an Asia Cup triumph. However, his personal batting form has been concerning, with only 100 runs from 10 innings at an average of 11 runs per game in 2025.

His previous performances show a stark contrast. In 2023, he scored 733 runs in 18 innings with a strike rate of nearly 156, including two centuries and five half-centuries. In 2024, he maintained a strong strike rate of 151, scoring close to 450 runs.

Despite his current struggles, Suryakumar maintains a positive outlook on his form. “I feel I have been working really hard. Not that I wasn’t working hard before. I have had good few sessions back home, good 2-3 sessions here, so I am in good space,” he said at the pre-series press conference.

Teams

India: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.

Australia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott (games 1-3), Xavier Bartlett, Mahli Beardman (games 3-5), Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis (games 4-5), Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood (games 1-2), Glenn Maxwell (games 3-5), Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitchell Owen, Josh Philippe, Tanveer Sangha, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis.