England vs India, 1st T20I - India Predicted XI

After a successful series in Ireland, the Indian team is all set to begin its England voyage. This long tour will kick off with a 3-match T20I series. This will be followed by 3 ODIs and 5 Tests. The Indian team is set to face England at Old Trafford in Manchester for the first T20I on July 3, 2018.

Going into this game, they definitely are spoilt for choices. Most of the players from the 15-man squad are currently in great form. However, the team has already been hit with injury scare. Jasprit Bumrah and Washington Sundar are ruled out of this series and Deepak Chahar and Krunal Pandya will replace them. Furthermore, almost all of these players got a go in the series against Ireland.

The batting has come really good thus far. The bowlers will be tested against a strong English batting lineup that has been in great form in the recent times. There wouldn’t be many surprises in the Indian playing XI for at least the first game.

Here is Team India’s Predicted XI for the first T20I:

Openers (Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma)

Both Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have shown signs of some great form in the series against Ireland. Shikhar played only one game in that series while Rohit played both of them. Sharma scored a mighty impressive 97 in the first T20I. However, in the second match, he batted out of his usual opening spot and was dismissed for a duck. However, he is expected to continue in the XI despite this rare failure.

On the other hand, Shikhar Dhawan will be roaring to go out into the middle after getting some good rest. He scored 74 off just 45 deliveries in the first T20I which included 5 sixes and 5 fours. Along with Rohit, he built a partnership of a mammoth 160 runs. This duo will be hoping to produce the same kind of exploits in the game against England as well.

Middle Order (Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik)

Suresh Raina has made the No. 3 spot his own in the recent times. Virat Kohli has to be credited for giving Raina the freedom to express himself at this position. Although he missed out in the first T20I against Ireland, he came strong in the second with 69 off 45 deliveries and is expected to continue at this batting position against England as well.

With the top 3 batsmen being the certainties, one cannot commit about the rest of the order. This will depend on the situation of the game as to who will come out where. Virat, after having had a rare series failure against Ireland will want to come good against England. With Manish Pandey not showing great signs of form, we can expect Dinesh Karthik to get his chance in the game. He played the 2nd T20I against Ireland but didn’t get to bat. However, he has been in good form in the recent times and is likely to bat after MS Dhoni in the lineup.

Wicketkeeper (MS Dhoni)

After being rested in the second T20I against Ireland, MS Dhoni is expected to take back his position in the squad. Dhoni is one of the leading run-scorer for India in T20Is in England and his experience will help the side a great deal. He was mighty impressive in the IPL and scored 11 off 5 deliveries towards the end of the innings in the first T20I against Ireland.

All-Rounder (Hardik Pandya)

Hardik Pandya is the most bankable all-rounder for India at the moment. His adventures in the series against Ireland are well-known. In the first game, he hit a six off the only ball that he faced but went wicketless with the ball. He was furthermore brutal in the second game of that series. He scored an unbelievable 32 off just 9 balls and also picked one wicket with the ball.

Bowlers (Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav)

India wouldn’t like to experiment much with their bowling in this game. The English batsmen have been in some unbelievable form and the Indian bowlers will have to be on the top of their game to keep them quiet. Hence, the spin-twin Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal are a certainty in the XI. While they picked 7 wickets together in the first T20I against Ireland, they shared 6 wickets in the second.

Bhuvneshwar is India’s frontline bowler and the sole death over specialist now. He is undoubtedly one of best white-ball bowlers in the world at the moment. He will open the bowling along with Umesh Yadav. Since Jasprit Bumrah isn’t available, Umesh will see this as a golden opportunity and will want to make the most out of it. Yadav played a T20I for India after almost 6 years in the game against Ireland and missed more than 60 T20Is in between.

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