This Saturday will see India play Australia in the first T20 game of the series at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in the north-east Indian city of Ranchi. It is the first of three T20 fixtures between the two nations and follows a five-match ODI series which India comfortably won by four games to one. With the Ashes series just a few weeks away, Australia will be badly wanting to try and find some winning form. But the odds are not in their favour. In T20 international games, India boast a 9-3 head-to-head record and won all three T20’s when the two teams last met in Australia at the start of last year. It promises to be a fascinating series, and the action all starts on Saturday at 7pm local time / 12.30am on Sunday AEDT.

India vs Australia Team News

India have handed a surprise recall to the 38-year old Ashish Nehra for this T20 series. He has not played since England visited India in February of this year. The left-arm pace bowler will bring valuable experience into the Indian bowling line-up as well as bring variety alongside the other two main pace bowlers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah.

Shikhar Dhawan also returns to the squad after missing the ODI Series to care for his sick wife. He is joined in the squad by KL Rahul whose selection ahead of Ajinkya Rahane has surprised a few after the latter’s four successive fifties in the ODIs.

There are four new faces in the Australian squad from the one that took part in the T20 series. Wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Paine has earned a recall, as have all-rounders Moises Henriques and Dan Christian. Meanwhile, there is also a place for the uncapped left-arm pace bowler Jason Behrendorff, who gets a run out ahead of the Ashes after James Pattinson was ruled out of that entire series. He will most likely be competing with Nathan Coulter-Nile, who was the leading wicket-taker in the ODI series, for a place in that squad.

The Australian batting line-up is a familiar one, but they will all be looking to play themselves into some form after a recent over-reliance on captain Steve Smith and David Warner in the run department. Both Aaron Finch and Warner scored well in the ODI’s and will be looking to keep that form going in this series.

Reminder: When streaming online, always use a VPN

Whether streaming the India v Australia T20 game live or any other cricket game, it is always recommended to use a VPN. Any live streaming service can put users at risk of security threats as well as possible legal action if you are found to be watching copyrighted content illegally. A VPN protects you from both. It will encrypt all of your online data and change your IP Address to ensure it is almost impossible to link your online activity back to you. There are plenty of VPNs around which claim to do this job, but which is the best for those looking to stream live cricket online?

The Best VPN for Online Streaming: IPVanish

In our assessment, IPVanish is the best VPN to use when streaming the India v Australia T20 match, or any other cricket game. They have some of the fastest connection speeds around at the moment and crucially for those streaming content online, their speeds are consistent no matter where you are. Their privacy and security provisions are among the very best you will find anywhere with no user data logs guaranteed. IPVanish allows users to connect to more than 850 servers in 60 different countries including 18 in India and no fewer than 69 in Australia. IPVanish can also be installed on almost every device, which means no matter how you plan to watch the game, IPVanish will be able to protect you.

IPVanish offers a 7-day money back guarantee which means you have a week to test it risk-free. Please note that Addictive Tips readers can save a massive 60% here on the IPVanish annual plan, taking the monthly price down to only $4.87/mo.

Where to watch India v Australia T20 live online streaming

If you are looking to stream the first T20 game between India v Australia live online, there are a few options available for you. The match will be covered live in both countries as well as by a number of other broadcasters around the world, many of which will make their coverage available online. But there are also a number of different online sources, including Kodi addons, which will offer high-quality live streams too. Here is our rundown of the best places to stream India v Australia T20 live online

Telecasts

In India, the first India v Australia T20 match will be shown live on Star Sports. It will be broadcast on their HD and SD channels as well as on their Hotstar online streaming platform. Whilst some Hotstar content is available for free, its live cricket coverage is part of its premium membership service. This subscription service costs around 200 rupees (around $3 a month), which is not too expensive. The first month is free too. However, this service is only available in India, so you will need to connect your VPN to an Indian server before you can sign up and watch.

In Australia, the tour to India is being broadcast live and exclusive on Fox Sports and is being streamed on Foxtel. Their Foxtel Now Sports package is available for just AU$29 a month, but you will also need a basic package, the cheapest of which is AU$15, which means your minimum outlay will be $44/month. They do however offer a two-week free trial period. Foxtel is only available to users in Australia, so users outside that country will need a VPN with Australian servers to access it.

Here’s a detailed list:

India – Star Sports / Doordarshan
Australia – Channel 9
UK – Sky Sports
Sri Lanka, Bangladesh & Nepal – Star Sports
New Zealand – Sky TV
South Africa & Rest of Africa like Zimbabwe & Kenya – SuperSport
Caribbean – Sportsmax
Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Qatar & Saudi Arabia – OSN Sports
USA & North America – Willow TV
Canada – CBN

Best Kodi addons to watch India vs Australia T20

If you cannot access either of these online streaming options, there are a number of other possibilities open to you. One of the most popular at the moment is to live stream games through one of the many unofficial Kodi addons which provide access. Lots of Kodi addons claim to offer live sports links, but some are much better than others. Here is our brief rundown of the top 3 Kodi addons for live streaming the first India v Australia T20 match.

Sportie

Sportie is a relative newcomer to the Kodi sports addon marketplace, but it is already a firm favourite with many users. It offers access to a huge range of high-quality streams covering almost every sport and all the big games. Sportie’s popularity is based on its blend of features, which cannot be found together in another single addon.  Their Live Channels section links to hundreds of channels and, unlike some rival addons, almost all of the links they provide seem to work. Their menu has a List A and List B, which is a little confusing for users, but these lists do differ, so if you can’t find what you want on one, you almost certainly will on the other. Both lists can also be filtered by individual sports, which is a really useful feature. Another great feature is their compilation of links from Reddit, which opens up a multitude of different searchable live sports streams many of which cannot be found elsewhere.

For cricket fans, the Sports Scrapers section is the place to head. This menu option allows users to find current live events which it has scraped from a variety of different sites around the web. It includes a section called Cricbox which is dedicated to cricket streams around the world. It is here that you will find plenty of links to the India v Australia T20 match. Sportie is a great addition to your Kodi addon library as well as being the perfect place to stream the India v Australia T20 match live.

CricketHD.net

CricketHD is an online subscription streaming service, which is available on various devices or their website. But their Kodi addon is a well-designed and user-friendly one, which offers a great way to view the match.  CricketHD markets itself as the home of HD cricket streams online, but it does come at a price. They charge on a per-series basis, and with just three T20 matches remaining, the India v Australia series is now available for just $6.99. This will give you access to all three T20 matches in HD quality.

Being a dedicated cricket site, they are focused on delivering high-quality cricket streams and although it is not free, they do deliver one of the best services around. You can sign up today on their website at www.crickethd.net and will need log-in details before being able to access the Kodi addon.

SportsDevil

SportsDevil is one of the most established names for live sports streaming on Kodi, with a comprehensive selection of live sports available. For all users for free. They scrape from a number of websites around the web to bring multiple links to all the big sporting events and the India v Australia T20 matches are no exception.  Because SportsDevil works as an aggregator, its service can never be 100% efficient. Some of the sites it links to can go down or offer a poor stream. But the scale of SportsDirect means that if you do find a broken link, there are almost always plenty more to try.

The quality of streams on SportsDevil can be variable, but with a bit of trial and error, it is usually quite easy to find a stream of a pretty high standard. One thing you cannot be certain of is the commentary language that you will have. For this particular game, it is likely that some streams will be in English, while others will be in Hindi. But again, it is no great hardship to click on a couple more links until you find the right language for you.

Other ways to stream India v Australia T20 live

As well as these Kodi addons, there are a number of other websites and TV channels which will be streaming the first India v Australia T20 match live online. Some of these are more reliable than others, but our pick of the bunch are:

• Willow TV – Willow.tv is the authorized broadcaster of live cricket in the USA and is available for $14 a month. For that, they show full live coverage of almost all live international cricket, with the exception of a handful of games which are picked up by ESPN. But the India v Australia T20 game will be on there. Willow TV’s streams are available to view on most devices including PC, Android, iOS and IPTV. The service is only available for US residents, so you will need to connect your VPN to a US server before you can access it.

• CricketHD.net – All the details about CricketHD’s coverage and subscription prices can be found above, but it is worth emphasising that if you don’t want to make use of their Kodi addon, you can also stream their coverage live through their website. You can watch all three India v Australia T20 games for just $6.99 on CricketHD.net.

• CricHD.com – CricHD is one of many free websites which offers links to live streams of all major cricket matches including the India v Australia T20 game. These sites can be unreliable, but CricHD is the best of the bunch in our experience and, as their name suggests, they specialise in high-quality HD feeds.

Pitch and weather details

The first T20 match between India and Australia will take place at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in the north-east Indian city of Ranchi. The pitch at this ground is one which generally favours batsmen, but it can play a little slow if more humid conditions. There is rain around the Ranchi area at the moment and while this will hopefully not be enough to interrupt play, it could make conditions slow. It is likely that the performance of India’s spinners and how Australia’s batsmen can cope with them will be a crucial factor in the outcome of the match. Expect decent scores from both sides, with spin bowling being the decisive factor.

Read India vs Australia 1st T20: Watch Online, Live Streaming by David Spencer on AddictiveTips - Tech tips to make you smarter

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