Takeaways for the Indian team after bouncing back against Australia by clinching 2-1 win in the T-20 series.
After getting thoroughly outplayed in two one day internationals, India responded well to avoid a whitewash in the third game. They carried the momentum from the third ODI to T-20I by clinching a 2-1 series win.
This Indian team remains a work in progress ahead of the T-20 World Cup in 2021. They have a lot of work to do to be a serious challenger for the trophy in home conditions next year. However, they continue to churn out bilateral series wins in T-20. Despite some shortcomings of the squad, there were some interesting takeaways from the series win against Australia.
Natarajan grabs the opportunity with both hands
The injury to Varun Chakravarthy at the end of the Indian Premier League 2020 opened the door for T. Natarajan. He was initially part of the squad as a net bowler. Due to injuries to Chakravarthy and Navdeep Saini added to both T-20 and ODI squad. His ODI debut was decent, but the performances in the T-20 series were much more impressive.
Natarajan ended up with six wickets in three games at an economy rate of 6.92. His death bowling was impressive as he showed it in IPL how accurate his yorkers are. However, his bowling in middle overs was much more impressive. He was mixing up pace and taking crucial wickets at regular intervals. Natarajan provides something different as he is a left-arm pace bowler, so his impressive performances in this series could help him in the long run to cement a place in the T-20 team. (Stats courtesy: Cricbuzz)
Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja provide solidity to the batting unit
In the first T-20 game, Ravindra Jadeja took up the mantle to score quick runs lower down the order. Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya stole the show in the second game by helping his team to chase down a mammoth score. Both of them have shown remarkable improvement in their batting over the past two years.
Jadeja and Pandya provide ample amount of hitting power in the lower middle order. Through their wide range of power hitting, they provide the much-needed impetus to the batting unit when the top order fails. Indian team management will be pleased by their batting progress during this tour. However, they need to contribute better with the ball in the future to provide even better balance to the team. Pandya is working on his bowling action, so he will eventually start bowling. On the other hand, Jadeja needs to become a more economical bowler in the T-20.
Run rate remains the issue in middle overs
During the third T-20 international, Virat Kohli admitted in the post-match conference that poor scoring rate in middle overs cost them the game. For the starters, it is good to see Kohli acknowledging the problem that has been visible in all three T-20 games.
The Indian team management will be hoping that the scoring rate can be improved by selecting better personnel rather than sticking with players that play the anchor roles. Kohli should also ideally try to score freely in middle overs as he often slows down after the powerplay. It is a persistent problem that could cost India in a big knockout game. It is good to see Kohli acknowledging the issue in this series, opening up the possibility of the team addressing the problem in the next series.