India and Australia locked horns today in the fourth T20I of the five-match series at the Carrara Oval in Queensland. With both teams winning a game each so far, the series is on the line in this game and India and Australia will be itching to take an unassailable 2-1 lead. Meanwhile, Australia are missing their opening batter, Travis Head, in this game and Matthew Short will open the innings with captain Mitchell Marsh.
The reason for the same is that Australia have already started preparing for the upcoming Ashes series at home against England. The first Test is scheduled to get underway on November 21, and several Test-bound players, including Travis Head, are featuring in the Sheffield Shield, a domestic red-ball tournament in Australia, to gear up for the prestigious tussle in the longest format of the game.
The next round of Shield matches are set to get underway on November 10, and Head will turn up for South Australia in the game against Tasmania at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart. Australia will definitely miss Head's presence in T20Is, but the Ashes is more important at the moment for the home team.
Glenn Maxwell returns for Australia
Meanwhile, Glenn Maxwell has replaced Travis Head in Australia's line-up as the all-rounder returns after recovering from a freak injury sustained in the nets ahead of the T20I series against New Zealand last month. Even Sean Abbott who played the last game is missing as he has also been released to play in next round of Shield matches, even as Australia have made four changes to their playing XI.
Playing XIs
Australia playing XI: Mitchell Marsh(c), Matthew Short, Josh Inglis(w), Tim David, Josh Philippe, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa
India playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Jitesh Sharma, Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
