India enter Rajkot clash with one eye on T20I series win against England

India will have a golden opportunity of pocketing the ongoing T20I series against England as the caravan arrives in Rajkot for the third T20I. It has been a compact performance for the Men in Blue as they have clinched both the opening games of the series, riding high on all-round brilliance.

India will need to have a closer look at their batting unit that was tested in Chepauk and didn’t really come out with flying colours. However, it goes without saying that they will have a fine chance of rectifying things in Rajkot with the surface being a conducive one for batting. India will most likely be missing out the services of Mohammed Shami once again as per the reports which are being disseminated. Nitish Kumar Reddy’s absence has also been plugged by Shivam Dube, which will throw in an array of options to the Indian thinktank.

England’s batting continues to be a major problem for them as the Indian bowlers have presented a unified front. However, Jos Buttler continues to be the shining force and will be hopeful of carrying forth his sparkling form. He would also be expecting his teammates to join him in consolidating the batting force for England and presenting a formidable number for India to be in a tough corner.

Pitch conditions:

Rajkot has always been a batting-friendly surface but the spinners will be holding sway. In order to score big, the batters will have to navigate warily while targeting the loose balls initially. The second half of the game will see dew coming in which will make batting a lot easier.

Head to Head:

Matches played: 26

India: 15

England: 11

Match Details:

India vs England, 3rd T20I, 2025

Venue: Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot

Date: 28th January 2024

Time: 7:00 PM

Squads:

India: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vc), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ramandeep Singh

England: Jos Buttler (C), Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Phil Salt (wk), Jamie Smith (wk), Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton, Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood