2nd T20I: Australia win toss, opt to field first against India at Melbourne

MELBOURNE: Australia skipper Mitchell Marsh won the toss and elected to field against India in the second T20I of the five-match series, which is being played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground here on Friday.

During the second match of the series, the players of both teams will be seen wearing black armbands paying tribute to 17-year-old Australian cricketer Ben Austin, who tragically died after being struck by a ball while training in Melbourne. Austin lost his life after being struck on the neck while training in the nets at the Ferntree Gully Cricket Club in Melbourne.

The ongoing five-match series between hosts and Men in Blue is currently poised at 0-0 after the series opener was washed out due to persistent rain.

Mitchell Marsh has won the toss & Australia will field first

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After winning the toss, Mitchell Marsh said, “We are going to bowl first. Looks like a good one, hopefully it won’t change for 40 overs. We have one change – Short comes in for Philippe.”

At the time of toss, Team India captain Suryakumar Yadav said, “We are happy to bat first. That is the brand of cricket we want to play. Shubman knows how to score runs. With him you have to run hard between the wickets as well. We are playing the same team.”

India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.

Australia (Playing XI): Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Matthew Short, Mitchell Owen, Marcus Stoinis, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood. (ANI)