England vs India 2018, first T20I: Preview
India will begin their tour of England with a three-match T20 international series. The opening game will be played on 3rd July at the Old Trafford in Manchester. Both teams have played 11 T20I matches against each other in the past with six of those being won by the British.
India: India have been dealt a major blow ahead of the T20I series as Jasprit Bumrah and Washington Sundar have been ruled out of the series. Bumrah picked up the injury while bowling in the first T20 international against Ireland at Malahide and Sundar had suffered an ankle injury during a warm-up session. The selectors have called up Deepak Chahar and Krunal Pandya for the T20I series as a replacement for Bumrah and Sundar respectively.
Men in Blue have shown terrific form in the shortest format of the game in recent times; they have won eight out of the ten T20 matches played this year and are on a six-match winning streak. They played a two-match T20I series against Ireland as preparation for their tour of England.
For Visitors, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma are going to be the key. Both have been in brilliant form of late. Although they will be without their frontline bowler Bumrah, their bowling lineup still looks superior with the likes of Bhuvneshwar, Kuldeep, Umesh and Chahal.
Expected India XI: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Umesh Yadav, Manish Pandey, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.
England: England have been blowing hot and cold in the 20-overs format with five wins and seven losses in their last twelve fixtures. After a disappointing Trans-Tasman tri-series where they lost three of their four matches, the hosts would have regained some confidence with a 28-run victory over Australia in their previous T20 international at Birmingham.
The hosts are among those teams who are very difficult to beat in their own conditions. They have more depth in their batting and most of their players have been in good form. Skipper Eoin Morgan is the leading T20I run-getter for England while Alex Hales has scored the most runs at the Old Trafford in this format after former Kevin Pietersen. Jos Buttler who scored a quickfire 30-ball 61 in the previous match against Australia has been in terrific form since IPL.
In Bowling, Chris Jordan and Adil Rashid will be key for English Team. Chris is the highest wicket-taker for the hosts in T20Is from this squad while Adil Rashid will be the go-to man for the hosts when it comes to spin. The leg-spinner troubled the Australians and expected to pose a tough challenge to the Indian batsmen as well.
Expected England XI: Eoin Morgan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, David Willey, Liam Plunkett and Moeen Ali.