Attention shifts to the white ball leg as India and England clash in the first T20I at Rose Bowl

The wound of the scathing defeat in the final Test against England is yet to heal and Team India has already got their wheels in motion as the much-anticipated T20I series kicks off from tonight. With so much at stake, the Men in Blue will be eager to continue their momentum in the shorter format of the game against a strong England team in their own backyard.

Despite shaky fortunes in the longest format of the contest, the visitors have been in pretty good touch in the shortest format of the game, especially after a sumptuous comeback against the touring Proteas to make it 2-2 having fallen 2-0 behind, followed by a 2-0 cleansweep against the technically undercooked Irish.

The English challenge, however, is going to be a totally different ball game and the visitors will have to be at their best to showcase the magnitude of strength that they possess. India would be reprieved to welcome back their skipper, Rohit Sharma who was dearly missed in the preceding Test match. 

The visitors will be banking upon Ishan Kishan to do the hard-hitting job at the beginning. Sanju Samson would probably be making the middle-order alongside Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik, and Hardik Pandya. Even though the chemistry between the pacers would be subjective, going by the English conditions, the needle would be heavily tilted towards the expressmen of the sides. England will also be coming with a hefty batting lineup that features the starry likes of Jos Buttler as their skipper and he will be backed with significant strength starring the likes of Jason Roy, Liam Livingstone, David Willey and Dawid Malan.

Team news:

Rohit Sharma will be returning to the international fold as the Indian skipper after missing out on the final Test, as he was down with COVID. India will not have access to their full strength in the opening T20I as a part of the squad was rested after the first Test.

England will be coming in with their entire T20I squad as Buttler will be leading the lines against a formidable opposition in India and they would be hoping to secure an early lead, especially with the likes of Virat and Bumrah to return from the second T20I.

Match details:

England vs India (1st T20I, T20I series)

Rose Bowl Cricket Ground, Hampshire

7th July, 2022

10:30 PM IST

Head-to-head:

Total matches: 19

India: 10

England: 9

Stats:

Virat Kohli is the highest run-scorer in the Indo-English rivalry in the shortest format of the game with 577 runs.

Virat Kohli has the highest number of half-centuries in the Indo-English rivalry in T20Is with 4 fifties.

Yuvraj Singh’s unbeaten 58 off 16 balls still remains the fastest strike rate by an Indian against England where he would dispatch Stuart Broad for 6 sixes in an over in the 2007 T20 World Cup.

Yuzvendra Chahal will be hoping to continue his imperious form against England as he already has 12 wickets to his name against the English forces that also stars a 6 for 25 as his career-best.

Squads:

India:

Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik

England:

Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Richard Gleeson, Chris Jordon, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Tymal Mills, Matthew Parkinson, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, David Willey