India came back strong in their challenging tour of Australia by defeating the home side 2-1 in the three-match T20I series. Virat Kohli’s men lost the ODI series 1-2 after two back-to-back losses in Sydney before pulling one back in Canberra. With the T20I series win, India have now remained undefeated in all their bilateral T20I series Down Under that featured more than one game.

While the series played in 2011-12 (two games) and 2018-19 (three games) were tied 1-1, India won the 2015-16 series 3-0 before clinching the latest one. Virat Kohli also became the first Indian captain to give his country a win in series played across all three formats. India were also happy that they could win the series despite the absence of a limited-overs giant like Rohit Sharma.

In the T20I series, however, it was a close contest with all three games going down to the last few deliveries for a result. The visitors won the first match in Canberra by 11 runs and the second in Sydney by 6 wickets. The Kangaroos fought back well to take the third, also played in Sydney, by 12 runs to avoid a whitewash like in 2015-16. There were quite a few individual performers on both sides and here is a look at a combined XI that can be derived from the T20I series.

Matthew Wade as Opener 1:

The 32-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman has rediscovered himself in international cricket late in his career and the series against India showed that he is far from being a spent force. Playing in an international series after three months and at home since January, Wade needed to ensure that he still keeps Alex Carey behind in the race, particularly ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup in India.

Wade started off poorly with a seven off nine at No.6 in the first game that the Aussies lost closely while chasing 162. The player found himself under more challenge in the second game in which he was thrown the captaincy cap as regular skipper Aaron Finch got injured. Wade rose to the occasion and added a third part to his role in the game: opening. He scored a half century — 58 off only 32 — to give his team a flying start before getting runout by his Indian counterpart Kohli. It was only his second fifty in the format and the first against India since 2012. Wade took the catch of Kohli but yet could not stop the visitors from winning the game and with that, the series.

The captaincy returned to Finch in the final game but Wade continued to have his opening slot. He made yet another fifty — his third in T20Is and as many against India — but ensured that he continued to stay out in the middle to help Australia put up a decent total. He eventually fell in the penultimate over for his highest score of 80 off only 53 balls as his team totaled 186 for 5. Australia won the game by 12 runs and Wade finished as the highest run-getter in the series with a tally of 145.

KL Rahul as Opener 2:

Rahul is one batsman on which India are banking heavily in this tour of Australia. He had only a half-century in the ODI series and the fans were expecting him to come up with the same rich exploits he had in New Zealand early this year. Rahul also had a brilliant Indian Premier League recently and that added to the expectations even more. He started off well in the series but could not finish it off as he would have liked.

Rahul hit the first fifty of the T20I series by opening with Shikhar Dhawan. He slammed 51 off 40 balls to wrest the initiative to help India post 161 in an otherwise mediocre batting performance. In the second game, too, Rahul scored a brisk 30 (off 22 balls) to give India a steady start to a successful chase of 195. The importance of Rahul giving his side a solid opening was felt when he fell in the second delivery of the Indian innings in the third and final match in Sydney. The target was lesser than that in the second match but Rahul’s early departure gave India a crucial setback at the very start and the Men in Blue could not recover from that.

Rahul will be taking a key lesson from his performance in the T20I series and it is about scoring hundreds. He is very much capable of hitting big knocks in the shortest format although it was seen at times during the IPL this year that he tends to slow down in the middle. This is one aspect where Rahul is trailing the likes of Rohit and once he makes amends, there should not be any stopping for him.

Virat Kohli (captain) at No.3:

Kohli came under criticism after losing the ODI series for his captaincy although he got runs in the last two games. The man ensured that the T20I series was also not lost. Kohli’s captaincy in the IPL often meets a heavy backlash and in the absence of Rohit, it was an additional challenge for him to prove himself a good captain. Kohli meant business and bagged a T20I series after his Test and ODI series wins in 2018-19.

Kohli did not get runs in the first match (nine off nine) but after India clinched that game, the ace batsman ensured that his bat did the talking in the remaining encounters. In the second match, Kohli did not allow India to let go the momentum after the Rahul-Shikhar Dhawan pair gave the hosts a good launching pad. The Indian captain has always been a great chaser and he did justice to his reputation once again. He belted 40 off 24 balls to take India close to the target before Hardik Pandya sealed the deal.

Kohli was then all charged up to make it 3-0 and came up with the highest score of the series — 85. The 61-ball knock came after he came out to bat in the very first over after Rahul fell for nought. He got dismissed in the 19th over and India’s hopes of making it 3-0 got almost shattered. Kohli’s 85 was his seventh fifty in T20Is in Australia and fifth against the Kangaroos. The man would still rue the fact that he is yet to pick a century in this format although he maintained his incredible record of maintaining an 80-plus average while batting second in the T20Is. Kohli finished as the highest run-getter for India in the series (134).  Kohli will be the captain of the combined XI.

Glenn Maxwell at No.4:

Glenn Maxwell had a disastrous IPL and was mocked by a former Indian cricketer. The batting all-rounder waited for his turn at his home and proved his mettle in the ODI series. The expectations naturally soared high as Maxwell came out for the T20I series for he is one of the most exciting players to watch in that format. The 32-year-old, however, failed to meet the expectations but also conveyed the message that he matters a lot when Australia need to win.

In the first game, Maxwell was dismissed by debutant T Natarajan for only two when the Aussies needed to steady their ship in the chase of 162 and the home team fell short by 11 runs. In the second match, too, Maxwell was expected to give the Australian innings a push but his promising knock met an premature end (22 off 13) and the Australians had to settle for a total that would have otherwise been bigger.

But the batsman came to the party in the third game that the hosts were desperate to win to salvage some pride. He came out to join an in-form Wade halfway in the Australian innings after Steve Smith fell and added 90 runs in less than nine overs to help his team put up a challenging total.

Maxwell slammed 54 in just 36 balls in the game — his eighth fifty overall in T20Is and the first since October 2019. He then came back to open the bowling and picked the crucial wicket of Rahul in the very first over. Australia won the encounter by 12 runs to make it 1-2 and Maxwell showed how much he matters for the Yellow Jerseys when they are eyeing a win. Maxwell, who averages 46 in T20Is in India and can be a handy bowler, will be one of Australia’s top pillars in the T20 World Cup next year.

Hardik Pandya at No.5:

Hardik Pandya has been a sensation in this year’s tour of Australia. He missed the historic series played last time and looks desperate to more than making it up. He carried his explosive batting form from the IPL to Australia and made two 90s in the ODIs before taking guard in the T20Is, his favorite format. In the first game, Hardik didn’t fire as his team would have wanted, scoring 16 but at a pace of more than run a ball.

It was in the second match in Sydney that Hardik showed his limited-over class once again. Coming out to bat at the 14th over with India still needing 75 runs to win, the 27-year-old played a perfect finisher, adding 29 runs with Kohli in less than three overs and then 46 runs with Shreyas Iyer in only 3.3 overs to take India home and bag the series. Hardik remained not out on 42 in only 22 balls and got the man-of-the-match award.

Hardik found himself in a similar situation in the third game in which India were chasing 186. He added 44 runs with Kohli for the fifth wicket in 4.1 overs but then his dismissal derailed India’s chances of registering a whitewash. He scored 20 off 13 and was looking good for another carnage. But it was not his day. Yet, the ace all-rounder made it clear that he is one of India’s biggest match-winners.

Steve Smith at No.6:

After a terrific run with the bat in the ODIs in which he slammed two back-to-back match-winning tons, Steve Smith was expected to play a big role in the T20Is as well. He had fairly good batting practice in the IPL before the home series but yet, the former Australia skipper failed to meet the expectations in the shortest format against India. But Smith is too big a player to be ignored from a T20I side.

Smith fell for only 12 off nine deliveries in the first match in Sydney and his dismissal pegged the hosts back in their chase of the target of 162. It was in the second game that the ace batsman, who played at No.3 for the Kangaroos, made his highest score in the series — 46 off 38. Experts, however, would say that the knock was a tad slow and stopped Australia’s progress from posting a 200-plus total. India won that game by 6 wickets to clinch the series. The third game also saw Smith making 24 runs off 23, again a slow show by his standards although this time, Australia emerged winner to make it 1-2.

We choose Smith for the No.6 position in our batting line-up, putting him a slot lower than the in-form Pandya. But a player like him just needs one knock to see himself going up the order. Smith is an asset for any batting line-up although he is not as successful in the two other two formats. Despite his less-than-great show in the T20Is, we still pick him keeping in mind his runs in the ODI series in which he was adjudged the player of the series.

Moises Henriques at No.7:

The 33-year-old all-rounder produced a big-hearted effort in the first game where he took three Indian wickets for only 22 runs (the wickets were of KL Rahul, Sanju Samson and Hardik Pandya) and then made 30 off 20 balls to keep Australia in the hunt for a win.

In the second game, Henriques’s promising innings of 26 (off 18) was cut short by debutant T Natarajan and he got to bowl just one over under stand-in skipper Wade. In the third match, he did not get much of a chance with the bat (five not out off two) and did not get to bowl.

Moises has played only 14 T20Is since making his debut in 2009, struggling to shed his tag of a fringe player. But he is T20 specialist (has more than 3.8k runs and 100-plus wickets in this format) and can be really handy down the order with the bat and as a change medium-pace bowler capable of making inroads when the team is in need.

Ravindra Jadeja at No.8:

Yes, we picked Ravindra Jadeja at No.8 even though he could play only one game and was ruled out after getting hit in the helmet by a ball from Mitchell Starc. Till then, the spinner-all-rounder was continuing with his rediscovered form with the bat (44 not out in 23 balls) that took India to a competitive total of 161 in the first game despite losing half the side for less than 100. Jadeja was later replaced by a concussion sub in Yuzvendra Chahal who ran away with the man of the match award but Jadeja’s priceless little knock gave the bowlers a fighting total. He himself could not bowl in the game though.

The 44 not out is Jadeja’s highest score in the format in which he has a strike rate of 112 plus. Jadeja found his form in the third ODI in Canberra in which he slammed 66 not out in 50 balls to stitch a match-winning partnership with Hardik Pandya. He continued with his form in the first T20I that was also played in Canberra but missed the remaining matches because of the injury.

We choose Jadeja for the No.8 position for his hitting abilities besides chipping in as a frontline spinner. The left-hand cricketer can turn any game around on his day and any captain will be happy to have him in his side. He makes a side strong in both the batting and bowling departments.

Shardul Thakur at No.9:

The right-arm medium pacer has a sea of experience in the T20s. He has 116 wickets from 101 outings and can be an asset in any T20I side. The 29-year-old made an impressive mark in the third ODI in Canberra by taking three wickets and after missing the first T20I on the same ground, came back into the side to play in the second and third games.

He picked only one wicket in each of the two matches and scored 17 not out in seven balls in the final T20I, trying to give India a win but in vain. Thakur, who had an unfortunate Test debut as he could bowl only 10 deliveries in his debut and only match before going out because of injury, has earned himself a name in the limited-over formats with 38 international wickets (ODIs and T20Is) in 29 matches. The man also averages 59 in the T20Is, which makes him no bunny with the bat.

Having Thakur at No.9 gives the combined XI a real depth in their line-up and bowling diversity.

Mitchell Swepson at No.10:

The 27-year-old leg-break bowler has just started his international career but picked up the man of the match award in the third game with bowling figures of 3 for 23. Swepson returned to the national side after making debut against England in the T20Is in June 2018 and picked his first wicket in the series in the form of Kohli. He also gave glimpses of his batting ability by making 12 not out off five deliveries in the same game that the Australians lost by 11 runs.

Swepson was ordinary in the second game in which he picked just one wicket before coming back strong in the third to help Australia win the game and reduce the gap. He ended up as Australia’s top wicket-taker in the series with five scalps.

It is yet to be seen whether Swepson can survive the tests of time to come out as a premier spinner of Australia in the days to come. But the fact that he was drafted into the Test squad for the upcoming series against India to assist Nathan Lyon shows that the Australians are not afraid to bank on him for the future.

T Natarajan at No.11:

The fast bowler from Salem has an impressive first-class and T20 career and he did not waste the opportunity after getting to don the national jersey. The fast bowler picked two wickets in his debut game, which was in the third ODI against Australia in Canberra. In the T20Is, he really showed consistency by claiming six wickets in three games to finish as the highest wicket-taker.

In the first T20I, he claimed 3 for 30 to derail Australia’s chase of 162. In the second game, he took 2 for 20 in four overs to apply brakes on the Australian innings. In the final game, Natarajan took 1 for 33 in four and his victim was the dangerous Maxwell, for the second time.

It’s still early days for Natarajan but it is certainly a great start for the man who could be an asset for India in the long haul.