If you’re planning to watch the India vs Australia T20 clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, you might want to drop that idea.
Remember when Suryakumar Yadav said there’s no real rivalry left with Pakistan? He was absolutely right. You must’ve noticed the empty stands during those Asia Cup games, but that won’t be the case when India face Australia in the 2nd T20, because the tickets are already sold out.
Yes, even though the match is still more than 3 weeks away, public tickets are gone. Wait a second, weren’t some people saying no one would show up for games without Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma?
No doubt, those two are massive crowd-pullers. But the beauty of time is that it always moves forward. And now, fans are equally excited to watch youngsters like Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma in action.
One thing’s clear: as of today, the most intense rivalry in world cricket is between India and Australia.
Cricket Australia (CA) has announced that ticket sales for the upcoming series have already crossed 175,000 across eight games — three ODIs and five T20Is. Public tickets for Sydney and Manuka Oval are completely sold out, while only a handful remain for Adelaide and the Gabba. Meanwhile, AFL and MCC member tickets for the Melbourne T20I are still being released, giving more fans a chance to be part of the action at the already sold-out venue.
CA CEO Todd Greenberg hailed the overwhelming response, noting that the Melbourne sell-out “shows the incredible interest around India’s white-ball tour” and underlines the fierce Australia-India rivalry. The series opener in Perth may be just days away, but it’s the Melbourne T20I that’s already making headlines for its electric buzz.
India vs Australia tour fixtures
The 3-match ODI series starts from October 19 with the first match in Perth. The other 2 ODIs will be played in Adelaide and Sydney. This will be followed by a 5-match T20I series from October 29.
India's ODI squad for Australia tour:
Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal.
India's T20I squad for Australia tour:
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill (VC), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar.
Also Watch: Did Rohit Sharma predict Shubman Gill to take over in ODIs 13 years ago?
