Virat, Team India members arrive at Mohali for T20I against AUS

MOHALI: Star Indian batter Virat Kohli and other members of Team India arrived at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Saturday ahead of the first T20I match against Australia, which will take place on September 20.

The three-match T20I home series against Australia will start on September 20 in Mohali. The next T20I match will take place in Nagpur on September 23, followed by the third and final T20I match in Hyderabad on September 25.

Punjab Cricket Association took to Instagram to share pictures and videos of players arriving at the stadium.

Along with Kohli, players like Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, captain Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Harshal Patel arrived at the venue. Indian head coach Rahul Dravid also reached along with his players.

Virat Kohli found his touch during the recently concluded Asia Cup 2022, in which he finished as the second-highest run scorer in the tournament and also scored his much anticipated 71st international ton.

Kohli scored 276 runs in five matches at an average of 92.00 with one century and two half-centuries.

However, he could not take his team to the trophy as it finished third in the Super Four phase of the tournament, topped by winners Sri Lanka and runners-up Pakistan respectively.

All eyes are on this T20I series against Australia and another home series against South Africa, starting from October 28, consisting of three ODIs and three T20Is. These will serve as quality match practice for Men in Blue for ICC T20 World Cup 2022, which will go on from October 16 to November 13 this year.

India could not even qualify for semis the previous year as they crashed out of the competition in the Super 12 phase.

Pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel have made their return to the squad for the World Cup and for Australia and South Africa home series. Pacers Mohammed Shami and Deepak Chahar have been included in the squad for T20 World Cup as standby players and also feature in squads for the two home series.

India squad for ICC T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.

Standby players - Mohd. Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Deepak Chahar.

India Squad for Australia T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohd. Shami, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah.

India squad for South Africa T20Is: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohd. Shami, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah.