England vs India 2018: 3rd T20I Preview

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With the T20I series nicely poised, both England and India will look to win the series decider, to carry the momentum into the much important ODI and Test series. In the first T20I, KL Rahul scored a brilliant hundred and England could not handle Kuldeep Yadav. But England came back strong with a good performance with the ball, handling spin well, and Alex Hales showing nerves to get England over the finishing line.

England's selection dilemma

With Ben Stokes back from his injury and available for selection, the England team management has few selection headaches to counter. Should Ben Stokes be included in the team? If yes, then who goes out? It is highly unlikely he will replace any of the bowlers. If he is selected for the match, any batsmen have to sit out.

England's successful approach towards spin

England's cluelessness against Kuldeep Yadav in the first T20I, which ultimately cost them the match, made them go back to the drawing board to come back with a plan to negate Kuldeep's exploits. And their plan was quite effective in the second T20I, as Kuldeep finished with no wickets and was hit for three sixes. Now, its time for Indian spinners to go come out with a plan for the English batsmen.

Indian opening woes

Indian openers have failed to make a decent opening partnership in the series with Shikhar Dhawan failing in both matches. This puts a lot of pressure for the middle-order batsmen for the rest of the innings, which was evident in the second T20I. The Indian openers need to put a solid partnership for the middle-order to flourish.

Records that could be broken

Rohit Sharma needs 14 runs to get to 2000 runs in T20Is. He would be second Indian, after Virat Kohli, to achieve this feat. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan need 38 runs, to get past 1154 runs by David Warner and Shane Watson, to become the leading pair in runs scored in T20I.

Venue: County Grounds, Bristol

Time: July 8, 2018. 14:00 Local Time. 18:30 IST.

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