Australia vs. India: Second Men’s T20 International – Live from the MCG
Melbourne, October 31, 2025 – Australia have won the toss and elected to bowl first in the second T20 International against India at a sold-out Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). This is the second match of the five-game series, with the first being washed out in Canberra after only 9.4 overs were completed.
Australia's captain, Mitch Marsh, has won the toss and chosen to field first. India captain Suryakumar Yadav admitted he would have been comfortable batting first anyway, much like in the previous match. The weather forecast in Melbourne looks promising, with some cloud cover that may favor pace bowlers.
India and Australia are using this series to fine-tune their combinations ahead of the T20 World Cup next year. Young Indian players like Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, and Shivam Dube have shown promise with their aggressive batting. Suryakumar Yadav, who had a good start in the first T20I before the rain interruption, is looking to regain his form.
In the previous match in Canberra, India reached 97/1 in 9.4 overs before the game was called off due to rain. Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav were in good form and looked set to dominate the Australian bowling attack.
India have a dominant head-to-head record against Australia in T20Is, with 20 wins out of 34 matches, while Australia have won 11. Three matches have ended without a result. Australia will be looking to reduce that deficit in this series, and are playing an attacking brand of cricket.
Playing XI India have entered the match with the same team. The India team includes Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Jasprit Bumrah. Australia has made one change to their playing 11.
Currently, India is struggling at 61/5 with Axar Patel recently dismissed for 7 runs.
A moment of silence was observed before the game to pay tribute to 17-year-old Ben Austin, who tragically passed away after being hit on the head by a ball.
