Gold Coast gears up to host India for the first time

It's Ashes squad selection day in Australia, and it's likely that most cricketing headlines will revolve around who's made the final cut for Perth. Unless you're here on the Gold Coast, which is gearing up to host the first-ever Indian men's international in town. Though the build-up to the match is not screaming at you from the billboards or even any posters around the Coast, Indian cricket fans in the region have been lapping up the tickets. And it promises to be a near sell-out at the Carrara on Thursday evening.

We have also seen some outrageous power hitting in both contests, where the ball has travelled to further than what we're used to in this part of the world. Even if the bowling standards on offer has been pretty high class overall. In a way it's been in keeping with the high quality you expect from the best two teams in the format. After a nostalgia-ridden ODI series and in the lead-up to the most highly-anticipated Ashes in a long time, it's easy to have glossed over these five T20Is as we get into the cricket summer. But the two teams have ensured that the interest levels will remain high over the next few days in the state of Queensland as the series reaches its end with everything still to play for on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane, come Saturday.

What to expect: There will be no talk of weather around this contest except for it being sunny and excellent on the Gold Coast. After 82,000 packed the MCG last week, there'll be a relatively fewer people in attendance here at Carrara, with the capacity at around 20,000 at this boutique venue. But the hype around this being the Indian men's first game here has been massive enough for us to get another full house. There's a bit of an unknown around how the surface will play here but the boundaries aren't the biggest, and there will be potentially a lot of balls flying in the direction of the crowds.

With Travis Head having decided to get some Sheffield Shield action in as part of his conditioning and preparation for the Ashes, there's an opening for Mitch Owen to go up top alongside captain Mitch Marsh. The return of Glenn Maxwell will be a major boost in terms of experience and also quality to the middle order, which looks pretty ominous with his addition. It'll be interesting to see if Mahli Beardman gets a nod in what will be an exciting first look at the young fast bowler at this level.

India rung in the changes after the MCG and it worked out well for them in Hobart with Washington Sundar playing a key role with the bat. Though the top order should remain the same as Shubman Gill continues to try and finish this tour on a high with the bat, the middle order should stay the same too with Jitesh Sharma having impressed with his cameo.

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