India vs Australia 2017: India's probable XI for second T20I

After grabbing a nine-wicket win in a rain-curtailed first T20I of the three-match series against Australia, team India will aim at winning the second match at Guwahati to secure the T20 series as well.

The bowlers played their part in restricting Australia to 118/8 by the 19th over before rain played spoilsport. Subsequently, the batsmen made no fuss of an easy target of 48 in six overs and helped the team gain a 1-0 advantage in the series.

Going into the match, skipper Virat Kohli and the team management wouldn't want to make wholesale changes to a side which dominated the visitors in the last match. Here we look at India's probable XI for the second T20I of the series.

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Openers

Rohit Sharma

After a brief stay on the field because of the cut-short target, Rohit Sharma will be rearing to go in the second match of the series. With 296 runs in the ODI series, the Mumbai batsman is in good touch and will be a handful for Australia to handle once he gets going.

Shikhar Dhawan

Dhawan missed the ODI series due to family reservations, but after making a return for the T20 one, he looks hungry and would want to have some runs under his belt before New Zealand's tour to India starts.

Middle Order

Virat Kohli

This one's a no-brainer actually. The best T20 batsman in the sport and the team's skipper will be coming out to bat at three, irrespective of the situation. His 14-ball-22 in the last match ensured India achieve the target without breaking a sweat.

Manish Pandey

After a below-par ODI series, Manish Pandey must be willing to repay the trust shown in him by the team management and the selectors. With KL Rahul waiting in the wings for the much-talked-about number four spot, the Karnataka batsman will have to get some runs under his belt, and soon.

MS Dhoni

Dhoni, most probably, will take the number five spot and carry the burden of scoring quick runs down the order. The ex-captain has been in a scintillating form this year and a handy knock from him will go a long way in silencing his critics once and for all.

All-rounders

Hardik Pandya

The Baroda all-rounder has cemented his place in the Indian team on the back of quite a few swashbuckling performances. He has rapidly risen through the ranks and is now one of the first names on the team list. Though there is a possibility of him coming out at seven and the next name on the list at six.

Kedar Jadhav

The Maharashtra cricketer has been given a longer rope mainly because of his part-time bowling, as there are better batsmen than him waiting on the sideline. His one-dimensional approach of see ball-hit ball has worked quite a few times in the last few series and he'll look to continue more of the same.

Spinners

Yuzvendra Chahal

The leg-spinner is one of the better LOI bowlers going around in the cricketing circles. Chahal has the courage to toss the ball up consistently, and despite being hit for a six or two, he doesn't try to bowl negative lines and is always on the lookout for a wicket. He has also made Maxwell his 'bunny' and the battle between these two will be an interesting watch.

Kuldeep Yadav

The Chinaman has been brilliant since he was drafted in the team when Australia toured India for a Test series earlier this year. Kuldeep would want to bowl a spell similar to one in the last match, where he gave only 16 runs in four overs and picked a couple of wickets as well.

Pacers

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

The UP speedster has shown a tremendous improvement in the last year or so and has rightfully earned his place in the Indian line-up. He is equally adept at bowling in the initial and death overs because of the plethora of variations he has.

Jasprit Bumrah

The youngster has grown into one of the best death-over bowlers going around and has the ability to dish out yorkers at will. He bowled three overs in the last match, giving away only 17 runs and bagging two wickets.