India will be up against Australia in the first of the five-match T20I series. This article provides details about Australia’s Playing 11 vs India for the first match of the series.
Australia Playing XI vs India- 1st T20I, India Tour of Australia 2025:
Openers: Mitch Marsh (c), Josh Phillippe
Kangaroos would want to have a winning start to the five-match T20I series against India to build on the series win they registered in the ODIs that preceded the upcoming T20I series.
The Mitchell Marsh-led side has picked a different side for different games of the five-match series, keeping in mind the Ashes series against England.
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The home team has decided to rest Travis Head for the entire series, which means Mitchell Marsh will have a new partner at the top of the order.
Mitchell Marsh is expected to open the innings with Josh Philippe, who was also a part of the three-match ODI series against India.
The batter will be entrusted to the job that Head has done in the last year or so while opening the batting, and give good support to Marsh, who is in good form and would want to carry that in this particular game.
Middle-order batsmen and all-rounders: Matthew Short, Tim David, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Owen, Josh Inglis (wk)
The opening duo will be followed by a middle order that comprises T20 specialists like Matthew Short, Tim David, Marcus Stoinis, and Mitchell Owen, all of whom can win the game single-handedly for Australia.
Another who might bat higher up in the batting order, probably at number four, is Josh Inglis, who is making a comeback in the Australian setup after missing the recently concluded ODI series, where he was replaced by Josh Philippe.
Although the middle order looks strong, the only concern for the home team would be the lack of depth in its batting department, which bats till number seven.
Due to the above-mentioned reason, the onus will be on the top five batters to score the bulk of the runs for the team.
Bowlers: Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Tanveer Sangha
If we talk about the bowling stocks for the T20I series, the team has suffered a huge blow before the start of the opening match of the series, with Adam Zampa unavailable for selection due to personal reasons.
Tanveer Sangha has been added to the squad in place of Zampa and might get a game in the first T20I in Canberra.
Other than the inclusion of Sangha Australia, it will also have the services of fast bowlers Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, and Josh Hazlewood, who will have to take the responsibility of picking wickets in all three phases of the innings.
Sangha is expected to be the only specialist spinner in the playing XI for the first T20I and will be assisted by the part-time spin of Matthew Shot, while Marcus Stoinis and Mitchell Owen will fulfill the role of fast bowling all-rounders.