Australia v/s India: 5 reasons Dhoni's men won't be sitting ducks in the T20 series

A lot of eyebrows were raised when the likes of Barinder Sran, Manish Pandey, Rishi Dhawan were included in the Indian team for Australia ODIs. Selectors faced severe criticism for sending a supposedly 'weak' squad Down Under but the basic idea of such a decision was to give unheralded youngsters a chance to prove themselves in the toughest of conditions. Some passed with flying colours and some failed but at the end of the day, the simple objective of finding future stars has been accomplished. 

However, the serious battle begins on Tuesday with India facing off against the Kangaroos in a three-match T20 series. The Men in Blue have gone in with their tried and tested line-up and have added some stars of the past like Yuvraj (Singh) and (Ashish) Nehra, keeping an eye on the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup that will be held in India.

Australia might have won the ODI series 4-1 but the score-line didn't reveal the actual intensity of contest between the outfits. There were games which could have easily gone India's way and this T20 event will give them the perfect opportunity to make a statement ahead of the gala event back home. Here's why India will be a tough nut to crack for the Aussies in the T20 series—

1. Presence of veterans

Some may be sceptical about the fact that Nehra, Yuvraj and Harbhajan (Singh) are on the wrong side of 30's but as the Turbanator had said "Are we 50 (year olds) who find it difficult to walk? We are 35 and still performing," and these players can turn the tide when it comes to the question of performing under 'pressure'.

While Yuvraj has had a dream outing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Harbhajan has been picking up wickets and scoring vital runs all throughout the current domestic season. The only concern that Dhoni might have is with Nehra, who has not been in match practice as Delhi excluded the pacer from the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy squad for the super league stage of the tournament. The Delhi speedster has had regular bouts of injury in the past,which will add to the worries of the Indian captain. Having said that, Nehra has exceeded all expectations in the last two IPLs, while playing for Chennai Super Kings, and that's why he is in Australia today. So it's expected that Dhoni will keep him in the first XI and if the left-armer gets into his rhythm, he will be hot property to handle for the yellow brigade.

2. Fearless youngsters

T20 is all about being 'bold', you need to take that extra amount of risk if you want to win games for your country. In Hardik Pandya India has that cricketer who will go after the Australian bowlers without caring about their past achievements. The Baroda all-rounder burst on to the big stage while playing for Mumbai Indians in IPL VIII and he continued in that vein in the recently concluded domestic T20 tournament. Given a chance, Pandya can destroy the confidence of the who's who of the cricketing world and Dhoni will give him that chance at some point of time in the series.

Jasprit Bumrah who had a memorable ODI debut in Sydney will be another youngster who will be a worthy fast bowling option for Mahi. His unconventional action has already flummoxed the Aussies and Dhoni will in all probability stick to him to elongate Australian misery.

3. India's 'in-form' batting line-up

Batting has always been India's strength and it was no different in the ODI series. As many as six hundreds were scored in the 50-50 event which in itself is a justification of how the batsmen thoroughly dominated the Australians. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan have been in tremendous touch. Add to that the inclusion of Suresh Raina at No.6 and India's batting only looks mightier.

Raina was left out of the ODIs due to poor results in the home series against Proteas but he managed to string together quite a few important knocks for Uttar Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, which they won handsomely. It's true that Raina isn't very comfortable against the short-pitched stuff but in the T20s he gets into flow by hitting out from the start on most occasions and that's what his team needs the most. A 15-ball 28 is what the team management is expecting from him and he is more than capable of rising to the challenge.

4. Return of the spin trio

Ravichandran Ashwin, Harbhajan and Ravindra Jadeja have come together after a long time and it will be very interesting to see how these tweakers bowl in tandem. Ashwin wasn't played in the last three ODI's and there's a huge possibility of one spinner being left out in Australian conditions. But still a Jadeja-Ashwin or a Ashwin-Harbhajan pairing can unnerve the Aussies in the shortest format of the game.

Harbhajan's good bowling form makes him a favourite to win a place in the team. Given the way he has bowled recently, where 'flight' has been his serious weapon, the man from Punjab can leave a mark of his legacy in the country where he has achieved a lot of success in the past.

Dhoni might be tempted to field the trio in the first and third match, which are at Adelaide and Sydney respectively, where the ball spins quite a bit. With three totally different spinners bowling one after the another, India might overcome the Aussies by spinning a web around them.

5. T20Is are Australia's Achilles heel and an inexperienced outfit will make the tourney tougher

The ODI World Champions have won every piece of silverware barring the T20 WC and this is a format where they haven't made a stamp in the true sense. India are 5-4 ahead on head to head and although that is not a huge difference, on paper the men in blue looks stronger.

Andrew Tye, Cameron Boyce, Travis Head and Chris Lynn are very new to the side with very little international experience under their belts. All these players have been in great form in the recently concluded Big Bash League but the Indian bowlers more likely to make merry by putting them under pressure.

Shaun Tait is returning to the squad after five years and it will be a little tough for him, given the fact that he depends heavily on pace. If he is not able to hit the line and length from the very first ball, the Indian top order can take him apart at the blink of an eye.