England vs India, 2nd T20I – India Predicted XI

India started off the long England tour on a high. They stunned the inform hosts in the first T20I to take a lead of 1-0 in the series. This win should give the team a lot of confidence going forward in the tour. They were clinical in all three departments of the game and it seemed as if India were playing a much weaker team.

The team is slated to play the second T20I against the hosts on 6 July 2018. Clearly, they would be looking to continue their dominance and win the series. But, at the same time, India’s management is spoilt for choices. They’ve got plenty of options available with players in great touch warming the bench. Picking the XI wouldn’t be an easy job for the management and the skipper.

However, with the kind of form England has been in off-late, it wouldn’t be easy to defeat them. The Indians will have to be on their toes if they are to win this. On that note, here is the Predicted XI of India for the 2nd T20I.

Openers (Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan)

There wouldn’t be any changes as far as the openers are concerned as the pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have been a highly successful one for quite a long time now. Although Shikhar missed out in the first T20I, he will be eager to do well in the second T20I. Shikhar has shown signs of great form in the recent times and was impressive in Ireland as well.

Rohit Sharma will continue to be the other opener in the side. He scored a brilliant 97 in the first T20I against Ireland. In the first game against England, Rohit played the second fiddle to KL Rahul and took his time in the middle. He scored a decent 32 off 30. He will continue to feature in the XI.

Middle Order (KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina)

It was believed that India would give Suresh Raina a long run at the No 3 position. However, KL Rahul, who walked out at the position in the first T20I made that spot his own. Rahul is in terrific form and it never seemed as if he was touring England for the first time. He timed the ball brilliantly and notched up his 2nd T20I hundred. KL Rahul will continue to bat at No 3.

There are clouds of uncertainty over the Indian batting order. It will purely depend on the situation of the game as to where the other batsmen will bat. Skipper Virat Kohli spent some quality time in the middle in the first game and will be eager to continue with the good form. Suresh Raina will continue to feature in the XI. However, his batting position is not a certainty.

Wicket Keeper (MS Dhoni)

MS Dhoni didn’t have to do much with the bat in the first T20I. However, he was brilliant as usual behind the stumps. Dhoni stumped two batsmen in the game to be the wicket-keeper with highest stumpings in T20Is going past Kamran Akmal. Dhoni has shown great form with the bat in the recent times and will continue to feature in the XI.

All-Rounder (Hardik Pandya)

It could be that Hardik Pandya will have to wait a little longer to play a game for India along with his brother Krunal Pandya. Hardik’s services with the bat weren’t required much and was pretty decent with the ball. Hardik picked one wicket in the game and conceded 33 runs in his four overs. Hardik will play the role of finisher with the bat in the XI.

Bowlers (Siddarth Kaul, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav)

The spin twins – Kuldeep and Chahal will continue to feature in the XI and why not? They were brilliant in the first game and provided the English batsmen with a tough time. While Kuldeep picked 5 wickets, Chahal went wicketless and will want to get some scalps in the second T20I. Kuldeep, in particular, created so much fear in the minds of the English batsmen that they are forced to train with the Merlyn bowling machine ahead of the game.

We could see one change in the Indian bowling line up. With a hectic schedule coming up, Bhuvneshwar Kumar could be rested for the game. Siddarth Kaul is expected to grab the spot in his place and will share the pace bowling duties with Umesh Yadav who picked 2 wickets in the first game.