India vs Australia 1st T20I: Team India aims to solve the jigsaw puzzle

Time for Team India to settle on best combo as dress rehearsal for World Cup begins with Australia T20Is...MOHALI: One positive to emerge from India's forgettable Asia Cup campaign was the century scored by Virat Kohli after a gap of three long years. Playing after a six-week break, Kohli scored a fiery 71st international century, although in an inconsequential affair against Afghanistan. That Kohli special (122 not out off 61 balls) was made possible, according to the bats man himself, by sticking to a "tried and tested" template in which six-hitting wasn't a priority. Kohli said as much in a chat with skipper Rohit Sharma.

Now that the burden of getting to that elusive ton is over, all eyes will be on Kohli's approach when he takes the field in the first of the three T20Is against Australia here on Tuesday. After this series, India are slated to play South Africa in three more T20Is from September 26 before the T20 World Cup in Australia in October.

Apart from keeping an eye on Kohli's form, India will also be keen to lock their best combination in these home games, with skipper Rohit Sharma having given his boys the license to extend their "limits". Eye on RahulOne eye will also be on how Rohit's primary opening choice, KL Rahul, approaches his innings against a quality bowling line-up led by Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. "KL Rahul will open for us at the T20 World Cup. We are not going to experiment with that position a lot. His performances often go noticed. He is a very important player for India," Rohit had said.

On his part, Rahul said on Monday, "The roles that have been defined to each player in the last 10-12 months have been very clear and a player understands what is expected of him and everyone is