England vs India, 2nd T20I, Preview: Hosts' turn to respond to the calamity in a must-win encounter

Who would’ve thought England would be in a must-win situation after the way they had thumped Australia in the preceding series? No wonder they are a brilliant side filled with exuberance and talent, but the way India handed them a royal pasting, many are doubting if they can even make a comeback. Their inability to handle quality wrist-spin has been exposed and each one of their batsmen needs to work on the same.

The hosts must have surely resorted to some plan to tackle the mystery of Kuldeep Yadav but they will have to implement it on the field. Eoin Morgan must be keen about the confidence in the group and there should not be any panic after losing the first game. But even they realise that the boom or bust approach which they ‘ve employed can go haywire for them in the 50-overs World Cup next year. Sooner they will work on their technique quicker will be the results.

Team India, on the other hand, have commenced the tour exceedingly well with three back-to-back wins and are flying high. But Virat Kohli has already made it clear that they will give chances to their fringe players during this series which presents everyone with a chance to impress the selectors. The moto should be to win the series though and they will be ready for the counter punch from England who will come hard at them to level the series.

Team Combination

England

Warning bells have rung in the camp for the home side but there shouldn’t be any changes to the line-up only after a defeat. Jason Roy and Jos Buttler were brilliant in the last game as well and they are expected to continue their job. Alex Hales will be under pressure after a dismal outing and even will be Joe Root whose place in the team has been questioned more than ever.

The bowling attack looks a little thin on variations for England and the experienced Liam Plunkett has to put his hands up in this situation. Even the spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid have to come up with something out of the box to surprise the opposition.

Probable XI: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (wk), Alex Hales, Eoin Morgan (c), Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, David Willey, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid

India

The visitors would surely like to test their bench but they might go in with the same batting order for this game. There might be a change with Siddarth Kaul coming in for Bhuvneshwar Kumar who was expensive the other day. However, there will also be a temptation to make Rahul open by resting one of the openers but it remains to be seen if they will go with that option.

MS Dhoni is yet to get some significant time in the middle but the team management would be least worried about him currently. The bowling of Hardik Pandya was the huge positive in the last match and he should continue to deliver four overs to the team. The wrist-spinners will no doubt make an impact and Umesh Yadav deserves another game after a brilliant come back to the format the other night.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Siddarth Kaul, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav

Focus will be on

Alex Hales (England)

Alex Hales is rarely out of action when it comes to T20Is. He struggled immensely against Pandya and Kuldeep in the first match. He has also been criticised a lot for his knock and it should be no surprise if he comes out all guns blazing in the must-win encounter for England. The Indian bowlers will have to keep him on his toes else the explosive right-hander can take the game away from them.

Virat Kohli (India)

Watch out for the Indian captain. He’s not known to stay away from the limelight for long. Kohli gave away his number 3 slot to Rahul which has worked wonders for the team. But the time might come later on the tour where he will also have to get a feel in the middle. He would love to lead from the front and if the need arises, he will be in the mood to play a match-winning inning and seal the series for India.

Stat Attack

300 – Suresh Raina needs two more maximums to complete 300 sixes in his T20 career so far. He will become the second player after Rohit Sharma to reach the milestone.

5000 – Alex Hales (4909) need 91 more runs to complete 5000 T20 runs.