The fifth and final T20I of the ongoing five-match series between India and Australia will be played at The Gabba in Brisbane on Saturday, November 8. India defeated Australia by 48 runs on Thursday, November 6, in Gold Coast to take a 2-1 lead in the series, and a win on Saturday will help Suryakumar Yadav’s men to seal the series with a scoreline of 3-1. Since taking charge of the Indian team on a permanent basis in July 2024, Suryakumar Yadav has won a T20I series in Sri Lanka (July 2024), against Bangladesh (October 2024), in South Africa (November 2024), against England (January-February 2025) and the Asia Cup (September 2025).
For the fifth T20I against the Mitchell Marsh-led side, the Indian team could make multiple changes to their playing
XI.
Jasprit Bumrah has played in the first four T20Is, and keeping his workload and upcoming Test series against South Africa in mind, he could be rested for Saturday’s fixture at The Gabba. Harshit Rana, who played the first two T20Is in Canberra and Melbourne, could be his replacement.
In addition to Bumrah, all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy could also get a chance in addition to Sanju Samson.
Samson played the first two T20Is but was dropped to the bench for the third and fourth matches. He can come in for Shubman Gill.
Gill has played as an opener for India in seven matches of the Asia Cup 2025 and four T20Is of the ongoing series against Australia, but he failed to play a big knock.
Before Gill was added to India’s T20I squad for the Asia Cup 2025, Samson was India’s opening batter in T20Is, and the wicketkeeper-batter from Kerala hammered three centuries as well at that position last year.
Nitish, who missed the third ODI against Australia in Sydney last month as well as the first four matches of the ongoing T20I series, could replace Shivam Dube. Dube impressed with his bowling in the fourth T20I, where he picked up a couple of wickets as well, but he has failed to impress with his batting.
Rinku Singh is also part of India’s T20I squad, but he has warmed the bench only in four matches, and there are not high chances of him getting a game on Saturday as well.
India’s likely playing XI for the 5th T20I against Australia: Sanju Samson (WK), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy.
