England vs India, 1st T20I Preview: Edgbaston disappointment behind them, India shift focus to T20 WC

Jos Buttler will take up England's full-time captaincy for the first time after Eoin Morgan recently hung his boots.

LIVE SCORES - England vs India, 1st T20I

Test regulars rested

When asked whether India would have a debrief after the Test loss at Edgbaston, coach Rahul Dravid quipped that the way cricket is going, there is hardly any time to reflect.

Around 48 hours after their Test defeat, India gear up for the first of six limited overs matches on their tour of England. However, all those part of the Test team have been rested for the first T20.

England, on the other hand, have rested them for the entire series.

Brook and Livingstone in England's power-packed middle order

 

Jos Buttler will wear the captaincy armband for England after Eoin Morgan decided to call it a day from international cricket after a long lean patch and twin ducks against Netherlands. Jason Roy will partner Buttler at the top of the order with Dawid Malan at 3.

With one spot in the middle order having cleared up, Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone are likely to bat at number 4 and 5 respectively, with Moeen Ali and Sam Curran following. Curran did a fine job against Netherlands after returning from a back injury and all eyes will be on the all-rounder in the series.

 Pressure mounting on Jordan

Pacer Chris Jordan hasn't been able to live up to expectations in recent times and will have a lot of pressure on him with the likes of Richard Gleeson rising through the ranks. With Adil Rashid unavailable due to his Hajj pilgrimage, England might try out Matt Parkinson despite him being a bit slow in the air.

Reece Topley and Tymal Mills can be the other two pace bowlers for England. 

Rohit Sharma back

Rohit Sharma will finally be back to lead Team India. He was rested from the five match T20 series against South Africa following the IPL but unfortunately tested positive for COVID-19 just days before the beginning of the rescheduled Test match.

India had a massive disadvantage in the match because of his absence and he must be gutted for it. However, that was not something which was in his hands and Sharma will refocus his energies on white ball cricket now.

Deepak Hooda in red-hot form

His batting partner would be Ishan Kishan who has been delivering consistently after a lukewarm IPL. Deepak Hooda who recently became only the fourth Indian cricketer to score a T20I century after Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul and was also in good form in the two T20 warm up matches before the series both of which India won, is likely to bat at number 3 in the absence of Virat Kohli.

Suryakumar Yadav, who is also back after injury, will take the number 4 spot. Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Kartik will follow in the batting line up.

Harshal, Bhuvi and Avesh to be India's pacers

With Ravindra Jadeja unavailable, Axar Patel is likely to keep his place at number 7. Harshal Patel, who put in a match winning all-round performance in the second T20 warm up match against Northants and is very much in India's scheme of things for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia will also make the cut.

The in-form Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Avesh Khan are likely to be India's other pace bowlers with Yuzvendra Chahal being their leading spinner. 

Predicted Playing XIs

England - Jos Buttler (c & wk), Jason Roy, Dawid Malan, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Matthew Parkinson, Reece Topley, Tymal Mills

India - Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma (c), Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan

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