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It is the reality of the looming World Cup that India are close to being back at full strength for a T20I series that starts two days after a gruelling Test match. Well almost. Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli will be available only from the second game of the series but that aside, the rest of the squad has been hard at work with a sense of urgency that build-ups to bilateral T20Is otherwise lack in non-World Cup years.
India, who have played four T20s (vs Ireland, Northamptonshire and Derbyshire) in the last 10 days, have won 13 of the 15 completed T20Is since tumbling out of the group stages of last year's World Cup, most while not fielding their top players. It's a formidable record in a fickle format, one that is representative of both their baseline level as well as their resource pool.
However, one defeat in Delhi and another near loss to Ireland in Dublin in their last international outing stood out with a familiar rhetoric. Do India have the T20 tactical wherewithal to counter big-hitting sides on flat surfaces, the kinds of which are likely in Australia? There has been a conscious change to addressing this concern, reflected in the improved strike-rates (139.56) and boundary percentages (16.2%) through the middle-overs (7-15) since last year's World Cup. For reference, they hit at 119.48 with a mere 11.3% boundary share between January 2020 and October 2021. It remains to be seen if they can retain this adventurism when the old heads return.
In that regard, England, even one missing many of their power players, will provide the ultimate litmus to gauge how far along they've come on the road to World Cup readiness. Days after their Test team received a bold validative tick, England will herald a transition of a slightly less epochal variety. Jos Buttler will take over as captain officially but he has been the T20 sheriff for a while now. There is unlikely to be a change in playing style, an ode to the enduring white-ball prowess of the team for seven years now. For the new captain though, this is an early staging post in the quest for the next ICC silverware that has slipped away in the final stages of the last two T20 World Cups.
When: England vs India, 1st T20I, July 7, 18:00
Where: The Rose Bowl, Southampton
What to expect: A pleasant evening with no rain forecast. The average first-innings score at the venue in this year's T20 Blast has been 165. Curiously, five of the seven games here this season have been won by teams batting first. It's a statistic India will keep a close eye on. Their win percentage is a lowly 54.84 while batting first in the last three years. In the same time, they've won 95% (18/19) of the games they've chased.
Team News:
England
The two all-rounders - Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone - in the England line-up will allow Buttler to play both Phil Salt and Harry Brook or play an extra bowler. Sam Curran has been in terrific hitting form in domestic cricket and could make his T20I return after more than a year out with a back injury. Lancashire's Richard Gleeson is in line for a T20I debut. He comes in with a reputation of unfurling yorkers at will. He has taken 23 wickets from 14 games at an economy of 7.83 in the ongoing T20 Blast. England have a number of first-choice bowlers unavailable and will chop and change the ones available for the three games.
India
Rohit Sharma has cleared his Covid tests and will return to captaincy and share opening duties alongside Ishan Kishan. India are likely to play the centurion from last game, Deepak Hooda, at least for the first game before Kohli returns for the second. They have choices to make in the fast bowling department and could hand Arshdeep Singh an India debut after a pair of impressive showings against County sides.
Did you know?
- India have picked at least two wickets inside Powerplay in seven of their last nine matches, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar leading the way with 13 PowerPlay wickets.
- Since the start of T20 WC 2021, England concede at 11.73 RPO in the death - the worst amongst full member sides with Chris Jordan's form (ER 11.38) being of particular concern
- Jos Buttler averages 57.20 and strikes at 148.76 as opener in T20Is, numbers very similar to those he churned out during his stellar IPL 2022 (Avg 57.53, SR 149.05)
- India have won each of the last three bilateral T20I series between these two sides.
What they said:
"He [Umran Malik] is very much in our plans. It's just about trying to give him that understanding as to what the team requires from him as well. Yes, there'll be times when we want to try out a few guys and Umran is definitely one of those guys where keeping one eye on the World Cup, we want to see what he has to offer for us. He's definitely an exciting prospect, there's no doubt about it. We all saw it during the IPL, he can bowl fast. It's just about giving him the role." - Rohit Sharma
Squads:
India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik(w), Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi, Avesh Khan, Venkatesh Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravi Bishnoi
England Squad: Jos Buttler(w/c), Jason Roy, Dawid Malan, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Reece Topley, Matthew Parkinson, Richard Gleeson, Philip Salt
==
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India, who have played four T20s (vs Ireland, Northamptonshire and Derbyshire) in the last 10 days, have won 13 of the 15 completed T20Is since tumbling out of the group stages of last year's World Cup, most while not fielding their top players. It's a formidable record in a fickle format, one that is representative of both their baseline level as well as their resource pool.
However, one defeat in Delhi and another near loss to Ireland in Dublin in their last international outing stood out with a familiar rhetoric. Do India have the T20 tactical wherewithal to counter big-hitting sides on flat surfaces, the kinds of which are likely in Australia? There has been a conscious change to addressing this concern, reflected in the improved strike-rates (139.56) and boundary percentages (16.2%) through the middle-overs (7-15) since last year's World Cup. For reference, they hit at 119.48 with a mere 11.3% boundary share between January 2020 and October 2021. It remains to be seen if they can retain this adventurism when the old heads return.
In that regard, England, even one missing many of their power players, will provide the ultimate litmus to gauge how far along they've come on the road to World Cup readiness. Days after their Test team received a bold validative tick, England will herald a transition of a slightly less epochal variety. Jos Buttler will take over as captain officially but he has been the T20 sheriff for a while now. There is unlikely to be a change in playing style, an ode to the enduring white-ball prowess of the team for seven years now. For the new captain though, this is an early staging post in the quest for the next ICC silverware that has slipped away in the final stages of the last two T20 World Cups.
When: England vs India, 1st T20I, July 7, 18:00
Where: The Rose Bowl, Southampton
What to expect: A pleasant evening with no rain forecast. The average first-innings score at the venue in this year's T20 Blast has been 165. Curiously, five of the seven games here this season have been won by teams batting first. It's a statistic India will keep a close eye on. Their win percentage is a lowly 54.84 while batting first in the last three years. In the same time, they've won 95% (18/19) of the games they've chased.
Team News:
England
The two all-rounders - Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone - in the England line-up will allow Buttler to play both Phil Salt and Harry Brook or play an extra bowler. Sam Curran has been in terrific hitting form in domestic cricket and could make his T20I return after more than a year out with a back injury. Lancashire's Richard Gleeson is in line for a T20I debut. He comes in with a reputation of unfurling yorkers at will. He has taken 23 wickets from 14 games at an economy of 7.83 in the ongoing T20 Blast. England have a number of first-choice bowlers unavailable and will chop and change the ones available for the three games.
India
Rohit Sharma has cleared his Covid tests and will return to captaincy and share opening duties alongside Ishan Kishan. India are likely to play the centurion from last game, Deepak Hooda, at least for the first game before Kohli returns for the second. They have choices to make in the fast bowling department and could hand Arshdeep Singh an India debut after a pair of impressive showings against County sides.
Did you know?
- India have picked at least two wickets inside Powerplay in seven of their last nine matches, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar leading the way with 13 PowerPlay wickets.
- Since the start of T20 WC 2021, England concede at 11.73 RPO in the death - the worst amongst full member sides with Chris Jordan's form (ER 11.38) being of particular concern
- Jos Buttler averages 57.20 and strikes at 148.76 as opener in T20Is, numbers very similar to those he churned out during his stellar IPL 2022 (Avg 57.53, SR 149.05)
- India have won each of the last three bilateral T20I series between these two sides.
What they said:
"He [Umran Malik] is very much in our plans. It's just about trying to give him that understanding as to what the team requires from him as well. Yes, there'll be times when we want to try out a few guys and Umran is definitely one of those guys where keeping one eye on the World Cup, we want to see what he has to offer for us. He's definitely an exciting prospect, there's no doubt about it. We all saw it during the IPL, he can bowl fast. It's just about giving him the role." - Rohit Sharma
Squads:
India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik(w), Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi, Avesh Khan, Venkatesh Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravi Bishnoi
England Squad: Jos Buttler(w/c), Jason Roy, Dawid Malan, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Reece Topley, Matthew Parkinson, Richard Gleeson, Philip Salt
==
All posters please take note of the following guidelines for match threads on PakPassion:
1. No personal insults at other posters, players, officials, coaching staffs etc.
2. No making fun of player's, official's, coaching staff's names.
3. Do not add any references to media, their social media or post any pictures or screenshots from other sports websites.
4. Stick to commenting on this match. There is no need to bring other countries into the match discussion as there are plenty of other threads where those discussions can be added.
5. Report abuse. If you see any post which is inappropriate, report it. Do not respond to it
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