It’s hard to believe, but India and Australia will face off in five T20 Internationals starting tonight, just four days after the conclusion of an epic ICC Men’s ODI World Cup.

Australia’s World Cup Final triumph has been well documented, but it will be interesting to see how this series plays given that most of the stars from both sides have been rested.

Check out our preview and best bets below before the first ball is bowled at 12:30am (AEDT) early Friday morning in Visakhapatnam.

India vs Australia 1st T20 Preview & Betting Tips

Visakhapatnam, Friday 24th November, 12:30am (AEDT)

Indian hearts were broken on Sunday night, as the World Cup hosts fell to Australia by six wickets in the Cricket World Cup Final. 

It was a devastating blow for the team, especially considering their dominance throughout the tournament in which they were unbeaten in all the group games and semi-final. 

Nevertheless, this T20 series marks the beginning of a new chapter with the next international tournament under 200 days away, and plenty of fresh faces will be representing the nation on Thursday.

Just four members of India’s World Cup squad have been selected in the squad for this T20 series (Ishan Kishan, Prasidh Krishna, Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer), so fringe players will have the opportunity to press their claim for future international berths against quality opposition.

India are the top ranked team in T20 cricket, so I expect their enviable depth to be on full display in these games, led by the likes of Kishan, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh and skipper Suryakumar Yadav.

India Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Shreyas Iyer

Like India, Australia have put forward an understrength squad for this series, opting to rest the majority of the players who celebrated World Cup glory on Sunday.

Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Travis Head and Sean Abbott will be joined by a mix of rising stars and experienced white ball players for these five matches, with Matthew Wade set to captain the side in the absence of Pat Cummins.

Despite the omission of big names such as Warner, Marsh, Starc and Cummins, there is still plenty to like about Australia’s squad – Matt Short has been banging down the door for years in this format, while Tim David and Nathan Ellis are also fantastic replacements. 

While Australia are ranked fourth in T20s, three spots below India, the Aussies will be confident that they can sink the boot into the home side with a series win here.

Australia Squad: Matthew Wade (c), Aaron Hardie, Jason Behrendorff, Sean Abbott, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa

There are a lot of unknowns heading into this first match, with the makeup of each XI a mystery. As such, it’s very difficult to predict the outcome of this contest. However, Australia looks to have picked a slightly better squad on paper, and most of the players have experience in Indian conditions from spending time in the IPL. Therefore, I’m backing the visitors to fire the first shot in this series.

Player Prop Quick Tips

Player to Take 2+ Wickets: Sean Abbott – $2.20 (Ladbrokes) – Abbott was the standout bowler in Australia’s most recent T20 series against South Africa, taking eight wickets in three matches. With plenty of experience on his side, I expect the Aussie quick to lead the attack in this one.