ICC World Cup 2019 – Match 38: ENG vs IND – India Predicted Playing XI

At this point in time, India is the only unbeaten team in the World Cup 2019. The Men in Blue, who will bleed orange when they face England in their next game, are just one victory away from sealing a knockout place. Ideally, they wouldn’t want to take it too deep and will hope in accomplish the task in the next game itself.

Also, if they manage to defeat the Brits, that will open up the points table as they will be several teams competing for the fourth spot. The management has maintained a good deal of consistency as far as the playing eleven is concerned. They have stuck to a core group of players and there wouldn’t want to experiment too much at this stage of the tournament.

Here is the Predicted Playing XI for India

Openers (Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul)

Rohit Sharma started off well in the last match. However, he fell victim to a wrong, controversial decision by the third umpire. He is the man in form for India and has been playing some great cricket. Rohit will look to lead the way for his team yet again but will have to be wary about the threat from the English bowlers.

KL Rahul has scored his runs at a slightly slower pace despite providing the team with consistent starts. If he is consuming a few deliveries at the top, it is important for him to stay out there in the middle for a longer time and make up for it. He shouldn’t throw his starts away and must get the big scores.

Middle Order (Virat Kohli (c), MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav)

The Indian skipper Virat Kohli has scored four consecutive centuries now and has been unstoppable. However, he’d still hate the fact that he missed out on getting to a hundred on each of these instances. Kohli will be hungry to get to a century in the upcoming game and that fact could be threatening for the opposition.

MS Dhoni was under the pump in the last game after that innings against Afghanistan. He didn’t seem to be at his best but still fought hard and got an excellent half-century. However, it’d be great if the wicket-keeper batsman could display positive intent right from the start of his innings and take occasional, calculated risks. It’d be better if Kedar Jadhav continues to bat at five or six and finish the innings for his team.

All Rounders (Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya)

The management has got a decision to make between Vijay Shankar, Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant. At this stage though, they will back Vijay Shankar to bat at number four. He gives the captain the sixth bowling option which is an added advantage. Shankar should slightly be more careful with the shot selection.

Hardik Pandya is scoring some valuable runs for India batting down the order. He is taking up the role of a finisher and can also be the floater in the line-up. Pandya has done well as the fifth bowler in the team and has been economical and amongst the wickets.

Bowlers (Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah)

With two back-to-back four-wicket hauls, Mohammed Shami has somewhat cemented his spot in the eleven. He is terrifying the fans with his swing, bounce and clever variations. Along with Jasprit Bumrah, he has formed a formidable pairing and both of them are doing a remarkable job.

Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal will be the two spinners in the line-up. With England batsmen’s vulnerabilities against spin bowling, these two will look to exploit it to the maximum. However, the opposition will also try to go after them and put them into a nutshell which they’ll have to be careful about.