Team India begins the much-anticipated tour of England with 3-match T20I series
After a successful series wrap against Ireland, Team India will look ahead to what will be the biggest challenge of the long international season. Team India will start the much-anticipated tour of England with a 3-match T20I series starting today at Old Trafford, Manchester. India has managed to win 7 of their last 10 T20I series, losing only twice against West Indies in 2016 and in a one-off game in 2017.
On the other hand, England’s recent limited overs performance has been a major boost for the team. Recently, they whitewashed Australia in a 5-match ODI series and a one-off T20 at home and managed to score 300+ thrice which included a world record 481/6 in the 3rd ODI. Their batting looks consistent with Alex Hales, Jos Buttler, Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow and captain Eoin Morgan in brilliant white ball form. The fast bowlers, David Willey, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett and Jake Ball can exploit the conditions and test the batsmen on any given day with spin twins Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali doing a good job as well.
India will face the selection dilemma yet again with the kind of form all the batsmen have shown in the IPL and in the series against Ireland. Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul and Suresh Raina hit convincing half-centuries against Ireland and have proven that they are ready to take the English challenge. Captain Virat Kohli will be the player to watch out for in the Indian team. Kohli did not have a good tour of England in 2014 but scored 258 runs in 5 innings in the Champions Trophy and finished at no.4 in the highest run-getters’ list.
All set and raring to go are #TeamIndia speedsters @y_umesh and @BhuviOfficial.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/m146CooESk
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 3, 2018
The pitch at the Old Trafford looked dry according to Kohli, which indicates that both the teams might go for two spinners in the playing XI. Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, the two wrist-spinners have done well in the past in all conditions and will be the first choice spinners for India. Jasprit Bumrah’s injury means that Umesh Yadav will keep his place in the playing XI for the 1st T20I. England is likely to retain the same XI that played the one-off T20 against Australia last week.
Start Time: Tuesday, 3rd July, 5:30 pm local time (10 pm IST, 4:30 pm GMT)
Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester
Probable Playing XI:
India: 1. Rohit Sharma, 2. Shikhar Dhawan, 3. KL Rahul, 4. Virat Kohli (c), 5. Suresh Raina, 6. MS Dhoni (wk), 7. Hardik Pandya, 8. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9. Kuldeep Yadav, 10. Yuzvendra Chahal, 11. Umesh Yadav
England: 1. Jason Roy, 2. Jos Butler (wk), 3. Eoin Morgan (c), 4. Alex Hales, 5. Joe Root, 6. Jonny Bairstow, 7. Moeen Ali, 8. David Willey, 9. Liam Plunkett, 10. Chris Jordan, 11. Adil Rashid.
