3rd T20I: India and Australia will look to address death-overs bowling in the series decider in Hyderabad

Focus on form of Harshal, Chahal in deciding T20 International todayHYDERABAD: After crashing out of the Asia Cup and with just under a month remaining before they lock horns with arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening game of the T20 World Cup Down Under, the Indian team wanted to iron out some of their 'deficiencies' in the three-match series against Australia. But the 'depleted' Aussies outplayed their experienced rivals in the opening match at Mohali earlier this week to jolt the hosts. However, a 6-wicket win in the rain-hit 8-overs-a-side game at Nagpur kept the hosts alive in the series. The action now moves to the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium where the teams will lock horns in the third and final game of the series on Sunday.

"It is nice to win the match and level the series, but we were keen to play this match just for the fans. It was so heartening to see the fans throng the stadium and after Covid this was a big one for them. Hence, we wanted to play this game for the people of Nagpur," Dinesh Karthik, who sealed the Indian win with a six and a four off the two balls he faced, said after the Nagpur game. Coming to the Indian team, none of the pacers made an impression at Mohali. The death bowling has been a cause of worry. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Umesh Yadav and Hardik Pandya were taken to the cleaners by the Aussies. The saving grace has been Axar Patel. The left-arm spinner has been spot on, and has made the rival batters struggle. His four for 17 at Mohali when the team conceded 211 runs is worth its weight in gold. He produced another superb spell of two for 13 in his two overs to stall the Australian progress at Nagpur.

With Jasprit Bumrah back in the side and Axar in top form,