India vs Australia: 130,000 fans expected across three T20Is

The most numbers are believed to be for Friday’s second T20I at the MCG where 70,000 spectators are expected.

Cricket Australia is expecting a sold-out T20I series between Virat Kohli’s India  and Aaron Finch’s Australia over the next week, with as many as 130,000 fans believed to be in attendance in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

According to cricket.com.au, over 100,000 tickets for the three-match series have been sold and a further 30,000 are expected. Of these, the most numbers are believed to be for Friday’s second T20I at the MCG where 70,000 spectators are expected.

That is followed by 35,000 fans for the third match in Sydney and 30,000 for the opening match at the Gabba.

The record for most spectators in attendance for a T20I match on Australian soil is 84,041 when Australia hosted India in 2008, which is the one occasion on which over 65,000 fans came to watch a T20I in the country. According to cricket.com.au, a total of 58,787 spectators showed up at the MCG for a T20I between these two teams in 2016.

Australia, ranked third in T20Is, are also going through a lean period, having lost five of their last six T20Is and recently slumped to their 18th ODI defeat in 21 matches. During this time, they lost an unprecedented seven successive ODIs.

The hosts have won nine of 16 T20Is this year, losing seven which includes a run of five defeats in six games – to Pakistan in the final of a tai-series in Zimbabwe followed by three to Pakistan in the UAE last month and now on Saturday to South Africa in a one-off. The win came over hosts UAE before the series loss to Pakistan.

India have a good record in T20Is in Australia – four wins and two losses, of which three came in a landmark sweep in 2016.