India vs England T20 World Cup 2021: Toss result and playing 11, today's warmup match umpires list and pitch report
Both India and England couldn't have asked for a better match to kickstart their preparations for the 2021 T20 World Cup.
The two teams will clash in the 12th official warmup match at the ICC Academy Ground in Dubai on Monday. The match will start at 7:30 PM IST, with the toss at 7:00 PM IST.
For India, this match will be about resolving some of the unanswered questions. The opening combination that'll take on Pakistan on October 24 hasn't been made public yet and this game should give a clear indication of the same.
Also critical would be Hardik Pandya's role in the game and whether he offers some bowling.
Meanwhile, the reigning 50-over World Cup champions will want some runs from the players who missed the IPL. England will also want to get acclimatized to the spinning conditions in the UAE early.
India vs England - Today’s Match Playing 11s
Extending a very warm welcome to the KING 👑
@msdhoni is back with #TeamIndia and in a new role!💪 https://t.co/Ew5PylMdRy
There's no set playing XI for this warmup match as the teams can use their entire squads. The batting order might change according to the situation.
The teams' preferences on game time and workload management of each player are also likely to have an impact on the match.
India's squad: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk) Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Ishan Kishan, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami.
England's squad: Jason Roy, Joss Buttler (c, wk), David Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Sam Billings, Sam Curran, Moeen Ali, Eoin Morgan.
India vs England - Today's match opening batters list
Skipper Virat Kohli confirmed at the toss that KL Rahul's brilliant performance in the IPL has brought the Punjab Kings skipper back to the top of the order alongside Rohit Sharma.
Buttler and Jason Roy opened in England's last T20I back in July. This being their first warmup game, they are likely to stick with that combination.
India vs England - Today's match pitch report
The match is at the same venue where Pakistan defeated West Indies by seven wickets in their warmup game earlier on Monday.
If that pitch is any indication, this is likely to be slow, low, more favorable to spinners than seamers, and conducive to cutters.
India vs England - Today’s T20 World Cup match umpires
On-field Umpires: Chris Brown, Richard Illingworth
Match Referee: Jeff Crowe
There's no third umpire for this warmup match.
India vs England - T20 World Cup toss result for today's warmup match
Squad 🙌 📸
#T20WorldCup | #EnglandCricket https://t.co/Q6wIh7NONy
India's captain Kohli won the toss and opted to bowl first. He also confirmed that he'll bat at three throughout the World Cup. He said:
"We will bowl first. We have had success in the past. So we want to create that same energy. The IPL is right up there, but this is paramount. Adapatability, who plays where is what matters. We are pretty solid in how we are going to start in the first game.
"We will look to give game-time to most of them. Things were different before IPL, now it's difficult to look beyond KL Rahul. He's been solid up front. I will be batting at 3. That's the only thing I can say for now (smiles)."
Buttler replaced Eoin Morgan as skipper for the match, with the Kolkata Knight Riders captain taking some time off. He didn't look too fazed to be batting first.