3 areas of concern for India ahead of the 2nd T20I against England
Although India have been next to unbeatable in the T20I format over the last year, they fell to a comprehensive 8-wicket at the hands of England on Friday. The loss handed the visitors a 1-0 lead in the 5-match series, which is set to resume with the 2nd T20I in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
India will take heart from the comebacks they've managed to orchestrate in the red-ball format, and they can't afford to go two games down in this series against arguably the best limited-overs team in the world. To pull level, the hosts need to iron out the kinks in their approach to T20I cricket, especially with the T20 World Cup scheduled to take place at home later this year.
Here are 3 areas of concern for India ahead of the 2nd T20I against England.
#3 Captain Virat Kohli's form
India opted to go hell-for-leather in the powerplay in the 1st T20I, and the move backfired big-time. While Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul saw their timber disturbed, captain Virat Kohli - batting at his favoured No. 3 position - handed a simple catch to mid-off off Adil Rashid.
Kohli's dismissal - for a duck - only added to the ever-increasing criticism of his form. The ball did seem to stick a touch in the pitch, but the Indian skipper isn't living up to his own high standards.
India's ultra-aggressive opening approach will only work if they have solid batsmen to follow in middle order, and at the moment, Kohli doesn't inspire confidence. After all, he hasn't scored an international century since November 2019 and last registered a white-ball ton in August 2019.
Kohli needs to arrest his slump at the earliest.
#2 Who will Rohit Sharma replace when he returns?
Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul added a combined 5 runs to the Indian total in the 1st T20I. Rohit Sharma was conspicuous by his absence in the previous game, and captain Kohli claimed that his deputy will make his way back into the side only for the 3rd T20I.
Today's game presents Dhawan with one final opportunity to justify his place in the side. He forms a right-left combination with Rohit, with whom he has an excellent understanding as well. But two fifties in his last 21 T20Is doesn't make for good reading, especially when you consider Rahul's record at the top of the order.
India will obviously not decide anything based on one game, but if Dhawan does notch up a significant knock in the 2nd T20I, the team's worries will mount. Rahul might have to be moved into the middle order, which is already suffering due to a lack of quality all-rounders.
If Dhawan doesn't fire, though, it's likely that Rohit and Rahul form the opening combination heading into the T20 World Cup.
#1 India have to decide between batting depth and pace options
Jasprit Bumrah has been rested for this T20I series. T Natarajan hasn't joined the squad yet and isn't available for selection. Mohammed Shami is still recovering from the broken arm he sustained during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
In the absence of three of their frontline T20I pacers, India have options in Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar and Navdeep Saini. Kumar and Thakur were the only two fast bowlers in India's XI for the 1st T20I, and Kohli was left short-handed when dew set in.
Only Thakur offers anything with the bat in T20Is, and India have been forced to field two spin-bowling all-rounders in Washington Sundar and Axar Patel. With Hardik Pandya slowly getting back to full bowling fitness, India have to choose between an extra pace option and an extra batting option.
It only makes things worse that both Axar and Sundar are restrictive options, which puts a lot of pressure on Yuzvendra Chahal to regularly provide breakthroughs. Rahul Tewatia and Varun Chakravarthy failed fitness tests ahead of the series and aren't in consideration, but India might still have to persist with their three-spinner strategy.
Balance has evaded the Indian team in white-ball cricket recently, and this is certainly an area to be addressed in the immediate future.