England vs India: What to expect in the first T20I?

The much-anticipated India vs England series gets underway from July 3 and the men in blue would hope to announce their arrival on the English soil with a roar.

When England host India for the first T20I on Tuesday at Old Trafford, both the teams would eye to replicate their previous victories to defeat each other.

On one hand, where India showed their dominance against Ireland to register their biggest ever T20I win in the second match, England completed a whitewash against Australia.

As India brace to play England, let’s see how Virat Kohli might deal with his ‘problem of plenty’ and what can be expected in the first T20I as No.2 India takes on No. 4  England

Would India tinker with their opening combination?

India would try to avoid messing with their opening order and prefer Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma as the first choice for opening the innings for India.

In the first T20i against Ireland, Rohit Sharma fell three runs short of scoring the third T20I century of his career.

Shikhar Dhawan smashed a half-century in the first game to stitch a partnership of 160 runs with Rohit Sharma.

In the second game T20I against Ireland, India rested Dhawan and KL Rahul with Kohli opened the innings.

While KL Rahul exhibited a robust performance against the hosts, Kohli departed early. Thus, it is most likely that Kohli might not experiment with his opening combination.

Will KL Rahul get a spot?

KL Rahul was the third highest run-scorer of the Indian Premier League and he gave a sneak peek of his stellar form in his game against Ireland.

While KL Rahul has made a strong case for his inclusion, it would certainly add to skipper’s dilemma.

With Dhawan, Rohit and Virat Kohli at the top order, the next two batsmen would need to take responsibility for setting the momentum of the game.

So, for inducting KL Rahul in the playing XI, he will have to drop Manish Pandey.

Who would play in place of Bumrah?

Jasprit Bumrah’s injury might pave way for Umesh Yadav and Siddharth Kaul.

Both the fast bowlers played well in the second T20I as Umesh Yadav picked two wickets and Kaul picked one wicket at an impressive economy of 2.00 in his two overs.

Should India beware of Buttler?

Jos Buttler’s stellar form might trouble Indian pacers.

Buttler, who says that he draws inspiration from MS Dhoni has helped his side whitewash Australia, and he would look forward to keeping making such big strides. Thus, India must find a solution to deal with the wicket-keeper batsman.