India vs Australia 1st T20I: Nitish Reddy ruled out of first three games as Marsh opts to bowl first

India and Australia kick off their five-match T20I series with the first match at Manuka Oval in Canberra on Wednesday, October 29. Australian skipper Mitchell Marsh won the toss and elected to bowl first against India. Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav said they were looking to bat first anyway.

“We are going to bowl first. Looks like a good wicket, always is a nice wicket when we come here. It’s exciting. All teams now pushing their bill towards the World Cup. 11 players, few batters, bowlers and all-rounders (smiles),” Marsh said.

SKY said the wicket may slow down in the second innings, adding that there haven’t been a lot of games played on this pitch leading up to this game. “We wanted to bat first as the wicket could get slightly slower as the game goes on. They know what is to be done, know the roles really well,” SKY said.

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Meanwhile, India suffered an early setback before the series opener as all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has been ruled out of the first three T20Is. The youngster, who had been recovering from an injury sustained during the second ODI in Adelaide, complained of neck spasms. This was confirmed live on TV.

Australia vs India playing XIs

Australia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Mitchell Owen, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Philippe, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood

India: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah