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Former India speedster Zaheer Khan believes that young opener Abhishek Sharma and Australia's destructive batter Travis Head potential to be the X-factors for their respective sides in the upcoming five-match T20I series.
Zaheer Khan picks Abhishek Sharma as India's X factor in T20Is vs Australia
After finishing the ODI series, Suryakumar Yadav-led India will lock horns against Australia for the five-match T20I series, which is scheduled to start from October 29. Notably, Abhishek is one of the most destructive batters in the shortest format of the game. He was awarded Player of the tournament in the Asia Cup 2025, where India defeated Pakistan in the final to win the title. The Southpaw currently sits atop the ICC T20I batter rankings and will look to continue his purple patch on Australian soil.
Zaheer Khan picks favourites in India vs Australia T20I series
Zaheer Khan firmly believes India will head into the series as favourites, considering their dominant form in the shorter format despite India's 1-2 defeat against Australia in the ODIs. Zaheer, who was a part of India's ODI World Cup 2011 winning squad pacer highlighted the team’s consistency and balance across departments in the shortest format of the game. He pointed out that the return of Jasprit Bumrah has significantly strengthened India’s bowling attack while the aggressive approach of their batters continues to put opposition sides under pressure.
“They (India) should be favourites based on how they’ve been going on doing their business in this format. It just looks challenging for any team to beat this Indian side. Add to that Bumrah is also back so that’s definitely going to boost the bowling side of things. The batters have been fearless as well so it’s definitely an advantage India,” Zaheer said on Cricbuzz.
India vs Australia T20I schedule
| Match | Date | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 1st T20I | October 29 | Manuka Oval, Canberra |
| 2nd T20I | October 31 | Melbourne Cricket Ground |
| 3rd T20I | November 2 | Bellerive Oval, Hobart |
| 4th T20I | November 6 | Gold Coast Stadium |
| 5th T20I | November 8 | The Gabba, Brisbane |
India's T20I squad against Australia
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.
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