Deadline: March 12, 7 PM IST
Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
Probable 11
India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan/KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer/KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur/Axar Patel, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar/T Natarajan
If India persist with Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul will have to bat at No. 4. However, Rahul will feature in the playing XI whether he opens or not. The same does not apply for Dhawan.
England: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler(wk), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan (c), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid
England have their batting sorted, but the order will depend on the match situation. That said, such is their quality and depth that they can afford to fire on all cylinders at all junctures of the game. Except for Butler and Morgan, everyone in the top 7 has scored at least 2 hundreds in T20 cricket.
Fantasy Team
We have opted for a fantasy cricket team based on recent performances, impact, and credit points.
Pitch Report
5 of the 7 matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy were won by the chasing team. As was the case in the Test matches, the pitch is likely to favour the spinners. That, nonetheless, won’t be the case in the second innings because of dew.
Power Players
25 runs off 7 balls. That’s it. That’s all they’d expect from Rishabh Pant in T20Is. Nothing more, nothing less. It won’t matter where he bats. He’ll be asked to smash. Given his recent form, only good things are waiting for the swashbuckler. However, the other wicketkeeping options to choose from are KL Rahul, Jonny Bairstow, and Jos Butler. Of all the three, Butler will open the innings while Rahul’s batting order depends on Dhawan’s addition. Besides, Rahul was the highest run-scorer in IPL 2020 and has a hundred against England. If he opens, it will make him the player to watch out for in fantasy cricket.
Virat Kohli may not be scoring hundreds as frequently as he used to, but his average never took a hit. In T20Is, he averages 50.4, and his last three scores read 9, 40, and 85. He has scored 346 runs at 130.5, the most runs in India-England T20Is. The second on the list is the England captain himself: Eoin Morgan has smashed 314 runs at 146.
Yuzvendra Chahal’s 6 for 25, the fourth-best bowling figures in T20Is, came against England. He will be a threat if India bowl first.
It’s tough to imagine Rohit Sharma being out of form in any format. In the Test series, he scored runs at ease when others struggled to get going. In his last 5 T20Is, he has three scores above 60 runs. His 4 hundreds and 21 fifties are the most in the format.
Dawid Malan is the No. 1 bowler in ICC T20I Rankings for batsmen. In 19 T20Is, he has bludgeoned 855 runs at a stunning average of 53.4, including a 1 hundred and 9 fifties.
Given the nature of the wicket, Moeen Ali will play a key role. If anything, his all-round skills make him a handy player in fantasy cricket. For India, Washington Sundar will play the same part, although he is a better Power Player bowler than Moeen.
Fun Fact
No English bowler has taken a five-wicket haul in T20Is.
The best figures are 4 for 6 by Chris Jordan.
Meanwhile, two Indians—Deepak Chahar & Yuzvendra Chahal—have taken a 6-for, and two—Bhuvneshwar Kumar & Kuldeep Yadav—have taken a 5-for.
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