T20 World Cup: KL Rahul brings out MS Dhoni's helicopter shot; Cummins gives deadly reply

Team India opener KL Rahul has announced his intention for the T20 World Cup 2022 with a cracking half-century in the opening warm-up match. Team India clinched a nail-biting six-run victory over Australia in their first warm-up match on Monday, October 17. Rahul's all-out attack on Australian bowlers set the platform for other batsmen to capitalise on the start.

T20 World Cup 2022: KL Rahul hits Pat Cummins for a six, bowler responds with a vicious bouncer

Displaying various range of shots while batting, KL Rahul dominated Australian bowlers bringing out MS Dhoni's signature shot during the 5th over of the innings. Pat Cummins responded to the shot with a vicious bouncer which hit KL Rahul's helmet just before the end of the powerplay. Despite getting hit on the helmet, Rahul continued to bat and ended up scoring 57 off 33 balls against the Australian bowling attack. The swashbuckling innings was filled with two sixes and six boundaries. He was dismissed by Glenn Maxwell after holding out to Ashton Agar.

India vs Australia: Suryakumar takes concussion test after a deadly bouncer from Mitchell Starc

Suryakumar Yadav continued his impressive form hitting yet another half-century.  However, during the final ball of the 19th over, Suryakumar was hit on the helmet by a vicious delivery from left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc. Yadav was struck on the grill of his helmet and the impact of the ball was so hard that it broke the corner of Yadav's helmet. Both Starc and Yadav can be seen checking the corner of the helmet before Team India's doctor arrived on the field to check on Yadav before he resumed his batting after passing the concussion test. 

Apart from KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav''s half-century, Team India's current skipper Rohit Sharma and former skipper Virat Kohli failed to cash in on their respective starts. Rohit was dismissed for 15 off 14 balls while Kohli was dismissed for 19 off 13 balls. Dinesh Karthik smashed 20 off 14 balls.

Following the conclusion of India vs Australia match, Rohit Sharma and Co. are set to face New Zealand in their second warm-up match at the same venue. The India vs New Zealand match will be played on October 17. The Men in Blue will face arch-rivals Pakistan in their first match of the T20 World Cup campaign on October 23rd.