The Big Picture

It is not often that Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni's blitz gets overshadowed, but such was the precision of Glenn Maxwell's calculated assault, that it left everyone at Chinnaswamy, including the Men in Blue, as Australia romped home comfortably to inflict a 2-0 whitewash on the Indians.

Coming into bat after Australia had lost two quick wickets of Stoinis and Finch, and the first powerplay only leaking 42 runs, Maxwell took on the challenge, absorbing the pressure, and along with Short, targeted the inexperienced duo of Shankar and Pandya, taking 53 runs off the next five.

But, Vijay used his slower balls to good advantage, outfoxing D'Arcy Short with a cutter, to bring Peter Handscomb to the crease. Maxwell, however, was undeterred, as he hammered another slower ball from Shankar for a six, taking 13 runs off that over. What was enthralling about Maxwell's innings, was how he calculated the run-chase. With the equation down to 60 of the last five, he took on Chahal, shellacking and reverse-sweeping him over deep backward square leg and backward point.

With Maxwell on a rampage, Kohli brought Bumrah back into the attack, as a last throw of dice. But, Maxwell was up to the challenge as he played two delightful strokes, and followed it up with two more sixes in the next over off Kaul to effectively seal the game for his side.

Earlier in the day, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni sent the crowd bonkers with an enthralling partnership of 102 for the fourth wicket to help India set 4-190 after 20 overs. KL Rahul gave the hosts' a pulsating start with a whirlwind 26-ball 47 and nullified the struggles of Shikhar Dhawan, who just did not get anything off the middle of the bat last night.

But, as he looked set for a big one, Rahul miscues an upper-cut off Nathan Coulter-Nile to hand the Aussies their first wicket. Dhawan and Pant followed- both holed out in the deep, which brought the two superstars of Indian cricket together at the crease. The onslaught began in the 15th over which eventually helped India score 91 runs off the last 26 balls.

Dhoni took a liking to Short as he hammered him for 24 runs off 9 balls, while Kohli targeted the quicks- especially Nathan Coulter-Nile, taking him downtown for three consecutive sixes in an over. Both batsmen completed 50 T20I sixes during their innings and made sure that India notched up 190 after 20 overs; a score which looked unlikely at the halfway stage.

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The game in Numbers-

1st- Thursday's loss was India's fourth bilateral T20I series loss at home and first since their 2-0 defeat against South Africa in October 2015. The series win was also Australia's first bilateral win over India [more than one match].

India's bilateral series loss at home-

vs England, 1-0, 2011-12

vs New Zealand, 1-0, 2012

vs South Africa, 2-0, 2015

vs Australia, 2-0, 2019

1st- This was also Virat Kohli's first series loss as captain at home across the three formats of the game.

Virat Kohli's record as captain at home [across formats]

Played- 16, Won- 14, Lost- 1, Draw- 1

3rd- The whirlwind innings from Maxwell was his 3rd T20I century first in India in the shortest format of the game.

Batsman with the most T20I centuries-

Rohit Sharma- 4

Colin Munro/Glenn Maxwell- 3

22- Sixes were hit during the game- 13 by India and 9 by Australia- the second-most in a T20I involving India.

Sixes-galore- Both Dhoni and Kohli went on to join the elite list of Indian players who have scored 50+ sixes in T20I cricket during their innings.

Most 6s for India in T20I cricket-

Rohit Sharma- 102

Yuvraj Singh- 74

Suresh Raina- 58

Virat Kohli- 54

MS Dhoni- 52

6- Fifty-plus scores for Virat Kohli against Australia- the most by a player against an opponent in T20I cricket. The Indian captain also shares the record for the most number of 50-plus scores alongside Rohit Sharma.

Most 50-plus scores in T20I cricket-

20- Rohit Sharma/Virat Kohli

16- Martin Guptill

15- Chris Gayle/Brendon McCullum