India vs Australia, T20 World Cup 2024: India vs Australia pitch report, head-to-head, playing 11 predictions, live streaming, toss time

Team India will take on Australia in T20 World Cup 2024 in Super 8 match.

It couldn’t be more beautifully poised. Victory for India in St Lucia will mean that Australia, their conquerors in the (50-over) World Cup final last November, are eliminated if Afghanistan beat Bangladesh on Tuesday. Even rain and an abandoned game might be enough to end Australia’s journey. On the flip side, a thumping win for Australia could see them leapfrog India into first place in the group. That possibility is admittedly slim, given how much better India’s net run rate (2.425) is compared to that of Australia (0.223) and Afghanistan (-0.65).

But there’s much more at stake than bragging rights in modern cricket’s biggest rivalry. India have been exceptional with the ball, but there are issues on the batting front that they will want to address before the knockout games. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli finally gave the team a lively start against Bangladesh, and the all-round show that propelled the team to 196 would have been heartening for the coaching staff.

But there’s every chance the fate of this match could be decided in Australia’s Powerplay. Arshdeep Singh can be expensive on occasion, but he has a happy knack of taking wickets – 12 in five games so far. As for Jasprit Bumrah, he’s almost unhittable, having conceded just one four in two Super 8 matches. Given the left-hand batters at Australia’s disposal, the only question is whether India will play both Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja, or give Yuzvendra Chahal a rare outing.

Australia will most certainly look to attack Kohli and Rohit with spin, but if Ashton Agar plays as back-up to Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell, it will be fascinating to see which of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood has to sit out. Some very illustrious names on both sides – Kohli and Rohit with the bat for India, and Starc and Hazlewood with the ball for Australia – have been in poor form. And when two heavyweight sides collide, something has to give.

While other venues in this competition have proved a struggle for batters, the Daren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia has been something of a batting paradise, with an average run rate of nearly 9. In fact, South Africa’s tense seven-run victory over England was the first of five games there where the winning side didn’t score quicker than 9 an over.

This is storm season in the Caribbean and there is a 40 per cent chance of rain on Monday morning. With the match scheduled to start at 10:30am local time, expect at least a few interruptions because of the weather.

India have usually had the better of Australia in this format, having won 19 and lost just 11 matches. But in the games that matter, at the T20 World Cup, the gap is far more slender – 3-2 to India.

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Australia: Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh (c), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Agar, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis.

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.

Australia: Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh (c), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.

The match will begin at 8:00PM IST, with the toss taking place at 7:30PM.

Ind vs Aus Live Telecast: Star Sports Network.

Ind vs Aus Live Streaming: Disney Plus Hotstar.