How the Men In Blue could line up at Manchester
Having whitewashed Ireland in a glorious fashion, India will now tour England to play 3 T20s, 3 ODIs, and 5 Tests from the 3rd of July to the 11th of September. The series is guaranteed to be a humdinger with both the teams enjoying the form of their lives.
England has recently completed a sensational clean sweep against Australia while India will enter the clash on the back of a 2-0 win versus Ireland. The Men in Blue have got a full-strength squad at their disposal to field in the difficult English conditions.
The first encounter between the two sides will take place on 3rd July in the form of a T20 international at Old Trafford, Manchester.
India squad for T20I series: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (WK), Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Siddarth Kaul, Umesh Yadav
Here is how India is expected to line up in the opening fixture.
Openers
#1 Rohit Sharma
Over the course of the past few years, Rohit Sharma has established himself as perhaps the most successful opening batsman in the limited-overs format. It is true that he had an underwhelming IPL campaign but the Hitman once again put all the brickbats to bed with his remarkable knock against Ireland in the first T20I. The Mumbai Indians skipper unfortunately just fell short of what would have been his third T20I century.
Rohit boasts the potential to single-handedly lead his side to victory when on song and he has shown that time and again. At the moment, he has 132 runs at an average of 26.4 in England in T20Is, which he will be raring to improve.
#2 Shikhar Dhawan
Accompanying Rohit Sharma will be his long-term partner, Shikhar Dhawan. The southpaw enjoyed an impressive IPL season and also displayed an amazing performance against Ireland in the first T20I, registering the fourth-biggest opening partnership in T20I history in tandem with Rohit Sharma.
Needless to say, the 32-year-old loves batting in English conditions and his knowledge will come in handy for the Indian team.