India won their last T20I series against England at home.
Gone are the days when teams used to believe in starting their innings off cautiously. The word cautious is almost on the verge of disappearing from the dictionaries of teams playing the limited overs formats. One of the most recent teams who have evidently stepped their game up in terms of aggression is Australia. The five-time ODI World Cup champions could not qualify for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 semi-finals. But they look in good stead for the next edition of the T20 World Cup in 2026. They could trouble good teams like India and England.
With the evolution of so many T20 franchises in the world, it is no surprise that teams are constantly looking to up the ante with respect to their approaches. For every player playing the T20 leagues, the number of matches have increased multiple fold as compared to just bilateral series. The contribution of the larger spectrum of the franchise based leagues has played a huge role in teams optimizing their strategies based on their takeaways in the shortest format.
The Aussies are making their approach pretty evident, with almost half a year to go for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup which is scheduled in early 2026. Their recent T20I series against the West Indies and South Africa was a testament to how they want to play the shortest format. Skipper Mitchell Marsh has been very vocal about being aggressive and has also cemented Australia’s opening pair for the coveted event next year. So let’s determine whether India can take cues from Australia’s new approach in T20I batting.
To interpret what the mighty Aussies are doing differently, let us have a look at their approach in the most recent T20 World Cup in 2024. Mitchell Marsh & his troops had a roller-coaster of a campaign. Despite winning all their group stage matches, they were robbed of a semi-final berth. David Warner and Travis Head opened the batting in all matches in the tournament. In hindsight, Head did what he does, whereas Warner was the more calculative batter.
Australia played seven matches, as a part of the group stages. As stats suggest, they were able to cross the 50-run mark in the powerplay on three occasions (leaving out the game against Namibia). Travis Head has always made his intentions clear in the shortest format, and is slated to be the opener alongside Mitchell Marsh in the upcoming T20 World Cup as well.
The difference at the top of the order is expected to present itself in the form of skipper Marsh. The 33-year-old has opened the innings for Australia on just nine occasions, eight of which has been in the two recent series against South Africa and the West Indies respectively.
The Australians are slowly making it a habit to go berserk at the top, irrespective of losing wickets. In the first T20I against the Proteas, they were reduced to 30/3 in the first 19 deliveries of the game. For another team, it might have been a time to slow down. But the Aussies continued in the same way. Furthermore, they were reduced to 75/6 at a later point. In the end, they got to a competitive 178, and managed to win the game by 17 runs.
And here’s the catch. Despite losing the 2nd T20I of the series, the style of play doesn’t change. But what does it tell us? Their ability to go hammer and tongs from ball one is because they have the batting firepower to keep going at the bowling. The Australians have somehow mastered the art of building a side which suits the T20 setup. The shortest format of the game dwells on all-rounders, and the Australians have managed to stack their squad up with many of those.
There is absolutely no doubt that all-rounders play a huge role in controlling the shortest format. More the dimensions one has to offer, greater is the ability for the player. But for any team to succeed in the T20 format, they have to find the right balance between all-rounders and experts in particular departments. And the Australians have been doing that really well lately.
If we closely look at the batting order of the Australians, it is very evident that they bat deep. Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head come out with the objective to go berserk. Cameron Green has played at No.3 and has done well at the spot on most occasions. His style of play? Hit the long ball. To add to this explosiveness, there is Tim David, Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Owen. Owen’s ability was on full display in the recent Big Bash League Final, in which he smashed a ton to take his team home.
Add to that, Josh Inglis, and the power-hitting department of the Aussies sky rockets. But there is another catch. Out of the top seven players in that batting line-up for Australia, three can bowl. Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green are potential bowlers, who can all chip in with four overs on their day. What this does is, it reduces the load on the mainstays in the bowling attack.
To add to that, it provides the bowling with some strong support in case they are taken to the cleaners. Along with batting depth, this is one of the most important factors, due to which the Aussies are able to play the aggressive brand of cricket. And this is where the Men in Blue will have to be cautious, if they are to take any cues from the Australian way of batting in T20Is.
Alongside Australia, India are the firm favourites in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. The the two teams have shown consistent form over a considerable period. But if India are to take cues from Australia’s batting in the shortest format, they will have to be wary of a few nitty-gritties that lie in their away. And one of the most important points is the all-rounder fiasco.
India have the firepower, for sure. The likes of Abhishek Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav can go ballistic at the top, to put any bowling attack under serious pressure. Post the T20 World Cup in 2024, India have used four openers in the shortest format. Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Now, this is where India’s problems might begin.
Out of the four openers, Jaiswal hasn’t found a place in India’s squad which will be on the flight to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Shubman Gill was announced as the vice-captain. But this will mean that he walks into the XI for each of the games. The Indian red-ball skipper has been in tremendous form for his IPL franchise. He will have to replicate the same at the highest level. As far as the numbers are concerned, Gill’s strike-rate does not instil a lot of promise at the top of the order.
In the absence of Gill, Sanju Samson would have been a great choice for the Indians. The wicketkeeper-batter from Kerala has been tonking bowlers in the Kerala Cricket League. But these runs have been coming in the middle order. We will have to see whether Samson gets a chance.
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First things first, it is not impossible for the Blues to do what Australia are aiming for. But as we are discussing, the Indians have some factors to consider. One of the most important of these factors would be their explosiveness at the top. A lot of this will depend on Shubman Gill. To add to that, the all-rounder battle is where India might have to put in some hard yards.
Apart from Abhishek Sharma and Hardik Pandya (considering he will bat in the top seven), none of the other batters can bowl. The likes of Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav and Rinku Singh are pure batters and cannot be entrusted with part-time bowling responsibilities. However, Axar Patel has showed his ability with the bat. India will have to decide whether they trust him with the responsibility.
The point is that it takes away the cushion. It is very important to understand why Australia are able to go berserk at the top of the order. It is simply because they have quality all-rounders, who are equally good with both bat and ball. However, in India’s case, they can still go aggressive at the top. But they will have to be cautious if they lose a couple of quick wickets. Because they might not have all-rounders who can cover for the pure bowlers on every occasion.
Australia’s strength lies in the their stubborn attitude to keep going hard at the bowlers. On the other hand, India will have to play situational cricket. It would not be a matter of right or wrong. But to achieve success in the shortest format, it will be important for each team to play to their strengths. Hence, it would not be very wise for India to take cues from Australia’s batting approach in T20s.
