Team India will continue its preparations for the upcoming men’s T20I cricket World Cup in Australia and will take on England in the three-match T20I series that begins on Thursday evening July 7th. The fixture will be played at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.
Regular Indian skipper Rohit Sharma will be back into the Indian setup after voluntarily missing out from the South African and Ireland T20I series as well as missing out against England in the rescheduled fifth Test due to Covid-19.
England, meanwhile, heads into this series with a change of leadership setup after Eoin Morgan announced his retirement from international cricket at the end of the Netherlands ODI series. All eyes will be on Jos Buttler who has been named the new skipper of the Three Lions.
India is currently on a superb run of form in the format winning four of their last five bilateral series and drawing their sole series against South Africa during this period. In terms of matches played, they have won 16 of their last 18 completed games in the format, only losing to South Africa during this period.
England, on the other hand, has been very poor off late in the format. They have lost five of their last seven games in the format, only winning two of the games away against West Indies. In terms of bilateral series, however, England has still done relatively well winning two of their last four such series in the format.
What have they done so far?
India has been exceptional in the format having won 16 of their last 18 completed games in the format since losing to New Zealand in the T20 World Cup in UAE. The only two losses they suffered during this period were against a full-strength South African team while the Men in Blue were playing their reserve players in lieu of the rescheduled fifth Test against England at Edgbaston.
The team from Asia have in fact been very dominant in the format, winning four of their last five bilateral series again only drawing to the aforementioned South African team during this run. The team, who were touted favourites to win the 2021 T20 World Cup however would face a stern test against a hard-hitting and positive playing English team in conditions that are alien to the visitors.
England, meanwhile, has had a topsy turvy performance in the last two years. Since 2021, they have been involved in five T20I series having won two against Pakistan and Sri Lanka at home. However, they have lost both of their away bilateral series during this run which includes a three-match series against India.
The Three Lions have lost five of their last seven games in the format including three against a lacklustre West Indies and that prompted the hosts to change their coaching staff first and follow that up with changing of the skipper. Just like the Test team who have now gone on to win four consecutive games after a change in leadership, the white ball team too will be hoping to replicate the same thing.
Head to Head Record
India has a slight advantage over England in men’s T20I internationals. The two sides have played each other 19 times in the format and the Men in Blue have been victorious in 10 of those games. England, meanwhile, has won nine of the encounters played between the two sides.
However, things are totally different when it comes to games played between the two sides in England and Wales. Here, it is the hosts who have an upper edge between the two teams in terms of matches won. England has four of the six games played between the two sides here. On the other hand, India has won mere two games.
Key Players
Jos Buttler (England) – Jos Buttler has been England’s star wicket-keeper and opener over the years in the T20I format and he will also lead the side now after Morgan’s retirement. He will be feeling refreshed heading into the limited-overs series against India after skipping the one-off remaining Test match against the visitors. The aggressive right-hand batter is expected to set the tone for England at the top of the order.
Buttler is easily one of the most dangerous willow-holders around in limited-overs cricket. The right-hander is England’s highest run-scorer since the beginning of 2020 with 880 runs at an average of 59 and a strike rate of 146. Be it at the top of the middle-order, with Buttler around, bowlers can never feel safe and secure ahead of a game against England.
Deepak Hooda became just the fourth Indian batter to score a ton in men’s T20Is
Deepak Hooda (India) – India found a new batting star in the recently concluded T20I series in Ireland where Deepak Hooda became just the fourth Indian batter to register a ton in the men’s T20I format. He had also scored an impressive unbeaten 47 in the first game of the series that ensured he was named the Player of the Tournament in that series
The 27-year-old, who came into this series on the back of a fantastic 2022 Indian premier League campaign for Lucknow Super Giants, proved why he deserves a place in India’s T20I squad.
In the IPL, if the wickets fell early in the powerplay overs, the 27-year had shown terrific composure to build the innings and steer the team in fine fashion. He has also been able to convert his starts into big scores, which has certainly helped the team secure crucial victories.
Predicted Playing XI
England: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (C & WK), Harry Brook, Dawid Malan, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Reece Topley, David Willey, Matt Parkinson
India: Rohit Sharma (C), Ishan Kishan (WK), Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan
Prediction
England will be hoping to put up a far better fight than what they showed in the last bilateral T20I series against a weakened Indian team for the first game in somewhat of a transitional phase, they have every reason to believe that victory is realistic.
However, India remains a T20 unit with significant depth and power-hitting with captain Rohit Sharma continuing to stamp his influence on the side since taking over from Virat Kohli. It is that power-hitting which may well prove the difference between the two teams here at Rose Bowl, Southampton, particularly down the order.
