Near-perfect India could play party poopers to under pressure Aussies

India will be out to derail Australias T20 World Cup 2024 campaign when they take on their shocked and underpressure opponents in their final Super 8 game on MondayA third straight win for India will not only make them the group toppers and send them to the semifinals it will also substantially threaten Australias chances of progressing through to the semifinals following the unexpected loss to Afghanistan in Saint Vincent on Saturday nightFollowing the reverse against Afghanistan Australia dont have the destiny in their own hands and will be keenly tracking Rashid Khans team final game against Bangladesh on Monday nightIndia who have had to endure heartbreaking defeats at the hands of Australia in major ICC events would like to see a premature exit of their strong rivalsOn finetuning their game ahead of the knockouts India dont need to do much having ticked all boxes in their backtoback wins against Afghanistan and BangladeshBoth Rohit and Virat Kohli played innings of substance against Afghanistan while Shivam Dube who had not been able to perform his role answered his critics with a crucial knockNumber three Rishabh Pant has been getting dismissed off reverse hit often and it is something he would like to correctThe biggest positive for India in T20 World Cup 2024 has been the allround effort of Hardik Pandya who has now come to the party with the bat to complement his incisive spellsKuldeep Yadav has taken little time to come up with matchwining contributions and he would be relied on for wickets in the middle oversAlso ReadGulbadin comes to rescue helps Afghanistan pull off historic win over AustraliaWith the team playing three Super 8 games with as many days of travel in between the management will be tempted to rotate players but is unlikely to do soIndia who arrived in Saint Lucia on Saturday night chose not to train ahead of the Australia game considering the hectic travel involvedIt will only be the second day game at the Darren Sammy Cricket Stadium The day nighters have produced highscores here but in the previous game at the venue England were not able to chase 164 in a day game against South AfricaIt has been the best batting strip of the competition but sun beating down on the pitch through the day is likely to aid the slower bowlersAustralia on the other hand have plenty to worry about going into the game It was a flop batting show against Afghanistan and unusually Mitchell Marshs team had a forgettable night in the field as wellHaving logged only 88 runs in six games at a strike rate of 111 Marsh needs to lead from the front against IndiaWith the ball offie Glenn Maxwell needs to check his economy rate of 858 runs per overIn terms of match ups it will be interesting to see how Kohli fares against legspinner Adam Zampa who has had the better of the Indian superstar on multiple occasionsAustralia played the extra spinner in Ashton Agar instead of Mitchell Starc against Afghanistan but that could change against IndiaIt was an offnight for us in the field and we own that Well be back next game It wasnt an easy wicket but both teams played on this surface India next First and foremost it becomes clear for us We need to win and no better team to do it against India said the skipper in a very matter of fact way after the Afghanistan gameSquadsIndia Rohit Sharma captain Hardik Pandya Yashasvi Jaiswal Virat Kohli Suryakumar Yadav Rishabh Pant Sanju Samson Shivam Dube Ravindra Jadeja Axar Patel Kuldeep Yadav Yuzvendra Chahal Arshdeep Singh Jasprit Bumrah Mohammad SirajAustralia David Warner Travis Head Mitchell Marsh captain Glenn Maxwell Marcus Stoinis Tim David Matthew Wade wk Pat Cummins Ashton Agar Adam Zampa Josh Hazlewood Mitchell Starc Josh Inglis Cameron Green Nathan EllisWith agency inputs