India Looks a Fresh Start Against Australia in T20

Sydney: India looks a fresh start against new Australia captain George Bailey in first Twenty20 international at Sydney Olympic Park on Wednesday.

New Australian T20 captain George Bailey concedes his side has a responsibility to keep India on the canvas after the Test team completed a 4-0 series whitewash over the tourists.

Bailey, who is yet to make his international debut in any format, will lead his country into battle in the inaugural T20 international.

"When you're playing for your country I don't think you're going out there thinking 'we'll take it easy on them this time', I think every game is about having your foot on their throat," Bailey said on the eve of the historic ANZ Stadium clash.

Bailey, who takes over the T20 captaincy reins from Cameron White, added when asked his expectations for the team in the upcoming two-game series against India and beyond: "I think consistency's a really important word for Twenty20, I think that's the hardest thing to be as a Twenty20 team."

Australia have named a 14-man squad and as the selectors cast an eye to the World Twenty20 they are likely to give each player an opportunity in at least one of these two games. Shaun Marsh is in the group despite having been dropped from the upcoming ODIs, and this could be a chance for him to free his mind and play naturally. Daniel Christian and Mitchell Marsh could be battling for one spot, while Xavier Doherty and Hogg are the two slow-bowling options. The selectors will probably want to see what the uncapped Faulkner can deliver, while Clint McKay is also in the squad.

Meanwhile, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is confident the tourists can turn things around quickly in the shorter format.

"It's (changing formats) not something that's very easy because we play with a lot of emotion, Indians are known to be emotional people, but it's not something that we have not done in the past," Dhoni said at the SCG on Tuesday.

"In England following the Test series (defeat last year), we went into the ODIs the boys performed really well ... so we're not really worried and hopefully it will go our way", he added.

India have a big group to choose from, and the make-up of their attack is not yet clear. Ravindra Jadeja and Irfan Pathan might be competing for the same spot, and the extra spinner could be desirable if the drop-in pitch proves slow.


Teams from

Australia GJ Bailey (capt), SE Marsh, DA Warner, DT Christian, XJ Doherty, JP Faulkner, AJ Finch, GB Hogg, DJ Hussey, MR Marsh, MS Wade (wk), TR Birt, B Lee, CJ McKay.

India MS Dhoni (capt & wk), G Gambhir, V Sehwag, V Kohli, R Sharma, RG Sharma, MK Tiwary, RA Jadeja, SK Raina, P Kumar, PA Patel (wk), IK Pathan, R Ashwin, R Vinay Kumar, Z Khan, U Yadav.

Pitch and conditions
As a new international venue, it will be interesting to see what the Stadium Australia pitch offers. The former Adelaide Oval curator Les Burdett has been brought in to prepare surface. Like most drop-in pitches, it is unlikely to have much in the way of pace and bounce.

Stats and trivia

• At 40, Hogg will be the third-oldest man to play a T20 international. He played two T20s for Australia back in 2006 and 2007, but didn't take a wicket.
• Australia and India have met in four T20s for two wins each - the first two went India's way and Australia won the second two.

Match facts
Wednesday February 1, 2012 (day/night)
Start time 1935 (0835 GMT, 14:05 IST)